As Senate begins debate, stage set for battle over new farm bill

Published: 2007-11-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The harvest is in. The apples have fallen from the trees. One thing is awaited, though, before farmers can declare whether 2007 was a good season for them: the passage of the federal farm bill. It is a reauthorization measure that affects everything from agriculture policy to food safety to crop subsidies to nutrition programs, which include food stamps. The biggest issue in the five-year, $285 billion bill is crop subsidies. Though the subsidies account for only about $40 billion in the bill -- food stamps and nutrition assistance, by comparison, account for two-thirds of the bill's budget -- it has become the subject of the latest round of veto saber rattling by President George W. Bush and veto-override saber rattling by members of Congress. The Senate began debate on the bill Nov. 5. The House passed the bill July 27. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as part of the Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill, had tried to rein in and reorient the subsidies, but was unsuccessful. In fact, the subsidies have grown to include fruit and vegetable crops that had never been part of previous farm bills.

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