"Negotiators agreed Monday evening on a new five-year Farm Bill that slashes about $23 billion in federal spending by ending direct payments to farmers, consolidating dozens of Agriculture Department programs and by cutting about $8 billion in food stamp assistance."
"This week could be pivotal not only for the future of the farm bill, but also the direction for the rest of this Congress."http://www.dtnprogressivefarmer.com/dtnag/view/blog/getBlog.do?blogHandle=policy&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc3e43976e013fbbecd2200e83&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
"The surprise defeat of the farm bill in the House on Thursday underscored the ideological divide between the more conservative, antispending Republican lawmakers and their leadership, who failed to garner sufficient votes from their caucus as well as from Democrats."
"The White House on Monday threatened to veto the farm bill coming to the House this week."
"Millions of dollars in farm subsidies for irrigation equipment aimed at water conservation have led to more water use, not less, threatening vulnerable aquifers and streams."
"The Forest Service would be allowed to forgo environmental reviews for forest thinning projects smaller than 10,000 acres under a provision in the House farm bill."
"After three hours of debate, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee today voted 15-5 to send its 1,100-page, five-year farm bill to the full Senate floor."
"Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on Thursday released her draft 2013 farm bill."
"Congress holds the purse strings, but who holds Congress these days when it comes to farm policy: the meatpackers and Monsanto?"
"WASHINGTON -- A patchwork extension of federal farm programs passed as part of a larger 'fiscal cliff' bill keeps the price of milk from rising but doesn't include many of the goodies that farm-state lawmakers are used to getting for their rural districts."
