The House and Senate made relatively few changes to the farm program in passing separate versions of the new farm bill. The next step is to reconcile differences in the bills, and the cotton industry wants to squeeze out “a damaging amendment” to the Senate bill that would restrict eligibility for crop subsidies.
SNAP is expected to be the major issue for House-Senate negotiations, considering diametrically opposing approaches taken by the chambers. SNAP also is the big-ticket item of the farm bill, accounting for three-fourths of the $87 billion a year that the legislation would cost.
But the conferees from the House and Senate who write the final version of the farm bill traditionally face a daunting list of differences. Some are minor enough that staff can resolve them. Others require the attention of lawmakers.
Other possible headaches this time are disagreements between the House and Senate over how far to raise the 24-million-acre cap on enrollment in the land-idling Conservation Reserve; the House proposal to eliminate the green-payment Conservation Stewardship Program; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan to legalize production of industrial hemp; and the payment limits pursued by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.
As part of their farm bill, senators approved Grassley’s proposal to limit crop subsidies to farmers, their spouses and one manager per farm. It says managers must perform at least 25 percent of the “total management hours” required annually for the farm, or an annual minimum of 500 hours, roughly equal to 15 weeks of full-time employment.
In a statement, Grassley said his amendment will close “loopholes that exploit the intent of farm programs by allowing some non-farmers to game the system and take resources away from real, working farmers. I believe that farm programs should provide temporary, limited assistance to farmers when there’s a natural disaster or an unforeseeable, sudden change in market prices, not unlimited subsidies.”
The Senate version also would deny payments to people with more than $700,000 adjusted gross income, compared to the current limit of $900,000 AGI a year. The limit is doubled for a married couple.
By contrast, the House would expand the list of people eligible for subsidies to include cousins, nieces and nephews and remove payment limits for some types of corporate farming.
Grassley’s amendment “will harm family farms across the country and make the farm law’s safety net less effective,” said the National Cotton Council, an umbrella organization for the cotton industry. “That amendment tightens the restrictions on farm management contributions for commodity program eligibility. The NCC believes the House’s version of the farm bill more fully addresses the policy needs of the U.S. cotton and textile industries, as well as commercially-viable family farming operations in general.”
An aide to House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway said the House’s changes are not as far-reaching as portrayed by critics. Everyone has to prove they are “actively engaged” in farming to qualify for subsidies. The changes in rules on corporate farming will ensure equal treatment, no matter the structure of the organization, the aide said in April. “We have had several examples of operations that incorporated as an LLC … and bankruptcy ensued as a result of the entire operation being limited to one $125,000 payment limit rather than one for each person actively engaged in the farming operation.”
The Republican-controlled House wrote welfare reform into its farm bill with a package that would require an estimated 7 million “work capable” adults to work at least 20 hours a week, or spend an equal amount of time in job training or workfare, to qualify for food stamps. States would get $1 billion a year to pay for the training. Democrats said the GOP short-changes the training program and creates a welter of paperwork that will disqualify people trying to prove they met the 20-hour goal. At present, food stamp recipients are required to register for work, accept a suitable job if offered and to attend a job-training class if directed.
During a radio interview, Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee, said as a conferee, “I am not going to be part of any right-wing fantasy and I don’t think the Senate is, either,” notes The Hagstrom Report. “If they get something on SNAP similar to what the Senate has, I can deliver a lot of Democratic votes in the House.”
The Senate defeated by a 2-to-1 margin an amendment by conservative Republicans that was similar to the House bill’s work-and-training requirements.