Download: Cost of Recent Farm Bills Fact Sheet
Some lawmakers are patting themselves on the back for attempting to cut a sliver of farm bill spending during a time of a $16.5 trillion national debt. Renewed every five to six years, the farm bill is the primary legislative vehicle that influences the agricultural safety net. But rather than tackle our massive debt, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees proposed farm bills in 2012 that squandered an opportunity to rein in out-of-control spending and reform outdated agricultural policies. They instead produced business-as-usual proposals that cave to special interests and fail to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. While a full five-year farm bill wasn’t passed last year, current policy was extended through Sept. 30, 2013. This year, Congress has an opportunity to revisit agricultural policies and create a more cost-effective, accountable, transparent, and responsive safety net that saves taxpayers at least $100 billion over the next decade.
Farm Bill Doubled in Cost over Past Decade
Just a decade ago, budget experts estimated that the 2002 farm bill would cost taxpayers $451 billion over ten years. Farm legislation passed in 2012 by the full Senate and the House Agriculture Committee was expected to cost more than double this amount - nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. More information can be found in Table 1. Most of the cost increase can be attributed to higher spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps), and highly subsidized crop insurance. About 80 percent of farm bill spending goes to nutrition programs, followed by subsidies for farm supports and crop insurance (13 percent), conservation programs (6 percent), and everything else which includes trade, energy, horticulture, research, rural development, etc. (1 percent).
To read the full fact sheet, see: Path to Trillion Dollar Farm Bills.
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