The 2008 Farm Bill: Major Provisions and Legislative Action (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 6, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL34696 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Renée Johnson, Tadlock Cowan, Charles E. Hanrahan, Jim Monke, Randy Schnepf, Donald J. Marples, N. Eric Weiss, Ralph M. Chite, Remy Jurenas, Randy Alison Aussenberg |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246, "2008 farm bill") was enacted into law on June 18, 2008. It contains 15 titles covering support for commodity crops, horticulture and livestock production, conservation, nutrition, trade and food aid, agricultural research, farm credit, rural development, energy, forestry, and other related programs. It also includes provisions that make certain changes to tax laws, in order to offset some new spending initiatives in the final bill. The enacted bill succeeds the most recent 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) and is to guide most federal farm and food policies through 2012. Many provisions of the 2002 farm bill expired in September 2007, but were extended under a series of temporary extensions prior to final enactment of the 2008 bill.
The enacted 2008 farm bill continues and/or modifies most existing farm and commodity programs, and also creates new programs and provisions. For farm commodities, the bill generally continues the framework of the 2002 farm bill, revises payment limitations (tightening certain limits and relaxing others), adjusts support prices for some commodities, and creates a new revenue support program, in addition to the traditional direct, counter-cyclical, and marketing loan programs for major supported crops. The bill also adds new stand-alone titles containing provisions to address horticulture and livestock issues, including new mandatory funding for specialty crop block grants and to support organic production; and provisions to address meat and poultry inspection, country-of-origin labeling, and livestock competition. Other provisions include changes to the current crop insurance program, a new provision for ongoing disaster assistance, and expanded borrowing opportunities for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers.
The bill's nutrition title increases food stamp benefits and sets new standards that will make more households eligible, and also raises funding for fresh fruits and vegetables in most domestic food programs. For research, the bill requires the reorganization of USDA's research, extension, and economic agencies. For most other titlesâconservation, international trade and food aid, rural development, forestry, and energyâthe enacted law reauthorizes, expands, and/or modifies many of the existing programs, creates new programs and initiatives, and allows some programs to expire.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the total cost of the 2008 farm bill (i.e., baseline plus new spending, using its March 2007 baseline) at just under $284 billion in total budget authority over five years (FY2008-FY2012). About $42 billion (15%) in projected spending will support commodity crops, $189 billion (67%) will support the cost of domestic nutrition programs, $24 billion (9%) will support conservation programs, and $22 billion (8%) will support crop insurance. Another $14 billion is expected to be spent on supplemental disaster assistance, trade, horticulture and livestock production, rural development, research, forestry and energy, and other programs. Offsets from tax provisions and proceeds from the credit, crop insurance, and commodity program titles are estimated at $10 billion (FY2008-FY2012).
