House Passes 2014 Farm Bill - Library Display

Today, the United States House of Representatives passed the $1 trillion Farm Bill as agreed upon by House and Senate agriculture committee leaders on Monday. The five-year bill will cut approximately $23 billion in federal spending. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week. The Conference Committee Report containing the text of the bill can be read here.

According to the Washington Post, the Bill will cut about $19 billion from farm programs, with an end to direct payment programs to farmers and landowners. Another $8 billion will be cut from the food stamp program, known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Agriculture Department conservation programs will be consolidated into 13 programs from 23 programs. The House Committee on Agriculture states that the bill will strengthen crop insurance and create a permanent livestock disaster assistance program. It also will authorize colleges and universities to grow industrial hemp for research purposes in states that permit growth and cultivation of the plant, as set out Section 7606 of the bill. In addition, the bill retains mandatory "Country of Origin Labeling" for meat, fish, shellfish, "perishable agricultural commodities," peanuts, pecans, ginseng and macadamia nuts.

The McKusick Law Library has displayed several of its resources on the history of previous Farm Bills and issues in agricultural policy, including:

Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Law/BY Mary Jane Angelo, Jason J. Czarnezki, and William S. Eubanks II.
Chapter 1: A Brief History of U.S. Agricultural Policy and the Farm Bill, Chapter 2: An Overview of the Modern Farm Bill, Chapter 4: Agricultural Irrigation - by USD School of Law Professor Emeritus John H. Davidson

Plowshares & Pork Barrels: The Political Economy of Agriculture/BY E.C. Pasour, Jr. and Randal R. Rucker. (Chapter 13: Subsidized Food Programs and Chapter 15: Crop Insurance, Market Stabilization, and Risk Management)

Agricultural Policy and the Environment/Edited BY Roger E. Meiners and Bruce Yandle

Paying the Farm Bill: U.S. Agricultural Policy and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture/BY Paul Faeth, Robert Repetto, Kim Kroll, Qi Dai, and Glenn Helmers.

Also included on the display are the following law journal and law review articles available from HeinOnline on issues related to the 2014 Farm Bill:

Amy L. Dorsch, Food Stamps in America: How an Octogenarian Program Can Still Meet the Country's Needs, 52 U. Louisville L. Rev. 199 (2013).

Neil D. Hamilton, Harvesting the Law: Personal Reflections on Thirty Years of Change in Agricultural Legislation, 46 Creighton L. Rev. 563 (2013).

David Ryan Quintanilla, A Bitter Policy Shoved Down Our Throats: How a Once Admirable and Necessary Agricultural Program Has Resulted in Major Profits for Big Business and Major Frustration for Others, 15 The Scholar 341 (2013).