	Introduction and Chronology

Congress periodically establishes agricultural and food policy in an omnibus farm bill. Following nearly three years of debate, Congress completed action in February 2014 on the most recent farm bill (The Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. The 2014 farm bill establishes policy for the next five years in its 12 titles, covering farm commodity price and income support, crop insurance, conservation, domestic food assistance, agricultural trade and international food aid, credit, rural development, research, horticulture, forestry, and bioenergy, among others. Within the various titles of the enacted 2014 farm bill are provisions that reshape the structure of farm commodity support, expand crop insurance coverage, consolidate conservation programs, reauthorize and revise nutrition assistance, and extend authority to appropriate funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) discretionary programs through FY2018. The 112 th Congress began work on a new farm bill but did not complete action before the conclusion of the Congress, requiring new bills to be introduced in the 113 th Congress. 113-79 ) on February 7, 2014. 113-333 ) on January 27, 2014. The President signed it into law ( P.L. 113-79 to Senate and House versions of the farm bill—including S. 954 as passed by the Senate (also referred to as the Senate amendment to H.R. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the mandatory programs of the 2008 farm bill would have cost $973 billion if continued for the next 10 years (FY2014-FY2023). Compared to this post-sequestration baseline, the 2014 farm bill ( P.L. 113-79 ) reduces projected spending and the deficit by $16.6 billion (-1.7%) over 10 years. 2642 and H.R. 113-79 remains as savings of $16.6 billion over 10 years. The final 2014 farm bill is projected to spend $956 billion over the next 10 years, of which $756 billion is for nutrition assistance and $200 billion is for the agriculture portion. 113-79 ), farm support for traditional program crops is restructured by eliminating direct payments, the counter-cyclical price (CCP) program, and the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. Approximately three-fourths of the 10-year, $47 billion in savings associated with the elimination of current farm programs was used to offset the costs of revising farm programs in Title I, adding permanent disaster assistance in Title I, and enhancing crop insurance in Title XI. As in the House- and Senate-passed bills, P.L. 113-79 amends how Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) payments are treated in the calculation of SNAP benefits. 113-79 does reauthorize several other forestry assistance programs through FY2018. One particularly controversial issue that was deleted in conference was the interstate commerce provision originally in the House bill that would have prohibited states from imposing production or manufacturing standards on agricultural products from other states. Of interest to the livestock and poultry industry, provisions repealing marketing and competition rules proposed by USDA (the GIPSA rule) were excluded.
Congress periodically establishes agricultural and food policy in a multi-year, omnibus farm bill. The 2008 farm bill governed policy for farm commodity support, horticulture, livestock, conservation, nutrition assistance, trade and international food aid, agricultural research, farm credit, rural development, bioenergy, and forestry. It originally expired in 2012, but the 112th Congress did not complete action and instead extended the law for one year (P.L. 112-240), leaving consideration of a new farm bill to the 113th Congress.
After nearly three years of deliberations, Congress completed action on a new omnibus farm bill when conferees reported a conference agreement on January 27, 2014 (the Agricultural Act of 2014, H.R. 2642/H.Rept. 113-333); the full House and Senate approved the conference agreement on January 29 and February 4, respectively. The President signed the measure into law (P.L. 113-79) on February 7, 2014.
Within P.L. 113-79 are provisions that reshape the structure of farm commodity support, expand crop insurance coverage, consolidate conservation programs, reauthorize and revise nutrition assistance, and extend authority to appropriate funds for many U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs through FY2018, among many other provisions.
The new 2014 farm bill restructures farm support for traditional program crops by eliminating direct payments, the counter-cyclical price (CCP) program, and the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. Much of the savings associated with the elimination of these farm programs was used to offset the costs of revising the remaining programs, adding permanent disaster assistance, and enhancing crop insurance.
P.L. 113-79 also reauthorizes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) through FY2018. The new measure restricts how a household's receipt of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) benefits can affect SNAP benefits, accounting for most of the nutrition budget savings. Not adopted were House provisions to restrict categorical eligibility and change several time limit and work requirements.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that if the mandatory programs of the 2008 farm bill were to continue, they would cost $973 billion over the next 10 years (FY2014-FY2023), which served as a baseline budget for deliberations on the 2014 farm bill. The enacted 2014 farm bill is projected to spend $956 billion over the next 10 years, of which $756 billion is for nutrition assistance and $200 billion is for the agriculture portion. Compared to the baseline, the 2014 farm bill reduces projected spending and the deficit by $16.6 billion (-1.7%) over 10 years. This projected 10-year savings is closer to the Senate-passed bill level of $17.8 billion than the projected House-passed savings of $51.8 billion.
Not included in the final conference agreement were a number of controversial miscellaneous provisions such as a House provision that would have prohibited states from imposing production or manufacturing standards on agricultural products from other states, and a House provision that would have repealed livestock and poultry marketing and competition rules proposed by USDA.