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House FARRM bill discusion draft released

House Ag Committee Chair Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Collin Peterson have released a discussion draft of their farm bill. The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) would:

• Cut $35 billion in mandatory funding
• Eliminates direct payments, streamlines and reforms commodity policy
• Repeal or consolidate more than 100 programs
• Consolidates 23 conservation programs in 13
• Improves integrity and accountability in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Provides regulatory relief including H.R. 872 to mitigate burdens on farmers, ranchers and rural communities

Preliminary estimates are the bill would save $11 billion more than the version passed by the Senate last month mainly through deeper funding cuts and tougher restrictions on SNAP participation.

The House version also restores target prices for commodity crops paying producers if prices fall below the target for five months. Farmers would also be allowed to update yields, something not allowed in the Senate bill.

The House Ag Committee will take up the bill when they meet next Wednesday, July 11.

A copy of the bill is available here: