	Budget and Appropriations

The 110 th Congress will consider several measures that bear directly on funding for the programs and activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Farm Disaster Assistance

The 109 th Congress debated extensively whether a multi-billion dollar emergency disaster assistance package should be enacted to compensate farmers for 2005 and 2006 production losses caused by natural disasters. 2007 Farm Bill

Since most provisions of the current omnibus farm bill ( P.L. 107-171 , the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002) expire in 2007, the 110 th Congress will be making decisions about the content of a new farm bill. Commodity price and income support policy—namely, the methods, levels, and distribution of federal support to producers of farm commodities—is traditionally the most contentious component of a farm bill. However, other food and agricultural issues, notably those surrounding conservation, rural development, trade, domestic food assistance, and biofuels, also will be debated. Other ongoing trade issues of interest to Congress include barriers to agricultural trade (see CRS Report RL32809, Agricultural Biotechnology: Background and Recent Issues , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed], and CRS Report RL33472, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Concerns in Agricultural Trade , by [author name scrubbed]); the scope of restrictions that should apply to agricultural sales to Cuba (see CRS Report RL33499, Exempting Food and Agriculture Products from U.S. Economic Sanctions: Status and Implementation , by [author name scrubbed]); and funding for U.S. agricultural export and food aid programs (see CRS Report RL33553, Agricultural Export and Food Aid Programs , by [author name scrubbed]). CFTC Reauthorization

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent federal agency that regulates the futures trading industry.
A number of issues of interest to U.S. agriculture are expected to be addressed by the 110th Congress. At the top of the agenda, Congress will be considering the unfinished business of FY2007 funding levels for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs and activities in the annual agriculture appropriations bill. Separately, attempts might be made to reconsider a multi-billion dollar emergency farm disaster assistance package that was debated but not passed in the 109th Congress. Since most provisions of the current omnibus farm bill expire in 2007, the 110th Congress will be making decisions about the content of a new farm bill. Commodity price and income support policy is usually the focus of a farm bill, but other agricultural issues, such as conservation, rural development, trade, and biofuels also will be debated. Other agricultural issues likely to be either considered or monitored by the 110th Congress include multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations; concerns about agroterrorism, food safety, and animal and plant diseases; federal energy policy; agricultural marketing matters; the reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and farm labor issues. This report will be updated as significant developments ensue.