U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-01), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, today voted to pass the Federal Agriculture Act of 2014, which authorizes federal agriculture programs for an additional five years.  The measure, which is an agreement reached in a Conference Committee between the House and Senate, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 251 to 166. 

“Farming is a way of life in Kentucky, and it is important that our farmers have the stability and certainty they need to adequately do their jobs,” stated Whitfield.  “I believe farmers get this much needed certainty through this five year farm bill reauthorization, which is why I am pleased to support it.  It also makes much needed reforms to the food stamp program for the first time since 1996 while maintaining food assistance for families in need.”

 In addition to reauthorizing agriculture programs for an additional five years, the Federal Agriculture Act of 2014 reduces $23 billion in mandatory spending.  Other items in the bill that are noteworthy include:

 ·         Repeals the direct payment program and strengthens risk management tools;

·         Repeals outdated programs and consolidates duplicative ones, eliminating nearly 100 programs or authorizations;

·         Helps farmers and ranchers create jobs and provides certainty for the 16 million Americans working in agriculture;

·         Strengthens conservation efforts to protect land, water and wildlife for future generations;

·         Maintains food assistance for families while addressing fraud and misuse in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), the first reforms since welfare reform in 1996; and

·         Reduces the regulatory barriers for job creators while making critical investments in land stewardship.

In October, Whitfield joined with fellow Kentucky Representatives Brett Guthrie (KY-02) and Andy Barr (KY-06) to call on House Speaker John Boehner to move quickly on negotiating a conference agreement with the Senate, which ultimately helped enable the passage of the Federal Agriculture Act of 2014. Whitfield has also penned multiple opinion editorials calling for the passage of a long-term farm bill.

To learn more about the Federal Agriculture Act of 2014, read the summary below:,

The conference report authorizes federal agriculture programs for an additional five years. The report cuts $23 billion in mandatory spending, including $8 billion from the supplemental nutrition assistance program.  According to the Committee, the conference report:

• Repeals the direct payment program and strengthens risk management tools
• Repeals outdated programs and consolidates duplicative ones, eliminating nearly 100 programs or authorizations
• Helps farmers and ranchers create jobs and provides certainty for the 16 million Americans working in agriculture
• Strengthens conservation efforts to protect land, water and wildlife for future generations
• Maintains food assistance for families while addressing fraud and misuse in the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), the first reforms since welfare reform in 1996
• Reduces the regulatory barriers for job creators while making critical investments in land stewardship
• In particular, the conference report ends direct payments and limits producers to risk management tools that offer protection when they suffer significant losses. It holds farm programs more accountable – tightening eligibility and streamlining means testing. The conference report also strengthens crop insurance.  It makes reforms to dairy policy – repealing outdated and ineffective dairy programs and replacing it with a new, voluntary, margin protection program without the government mandated supply controls. It reauthorizes and strengthens livestock disaster assistance. It supports small businesses and beginning farmers and ranchers with training and access to capital.
• It makes the first reforms to the SNAP program since 1996, saving $8 billion in the program. The conference report repeals the “heat and eat” loophole that artificially increases benefit levels when states provide nominal LIHEAP assistance. It establishes a 10-state pilot to empower states to engage able bodied adults in mandatory work programs. It prohibits USDA from engaging in SNAP recruitment activities, and advertising SNAP on TV, radio, billboards, and through foreign governments. It ensures that illegal immigrants, lottery winners, traditional college students and the deceased do not receive SNAP benefits. It also ensures that SNAP recipients are not receiving benefits in multiple states. It stops abuses such as water dumping to exchange bottles for cash. It demands outcomes from existing employment and training programs; prohibits states from manipulating SNAP benefit levels by eliminating medical marijuana as an allowable expense; allows states to pursue retailer fraud through a pilot investigation program and crack down on trafficking through data mining, terminal id, and other measures. Finally, the conference report increases assistance to food banks.

The conference report makes additional reforms and provides regulatory relief. It consolidates 23 duplicative and overlapping conservation programs into 13. It provides one year of full funding for the payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) program, providing funding for vital services in communities containing federal land. It provides certainty to the forest products industry by clarifying that forest roads should not be considered as a point source under the Clean Water Act. It creates permanent subcommittee within the EPA Science Advisory Board to conduct peer review of EPA actions that negatively impact agriculture; it eliminates duplicative reporting requirements for seed importers and requires improved economic analysis of FDA regulations. Finally, it fully funds specialty crop industry priorities such as specialty crop block grants.

For more information on the conference report, see the statement of the managers.[1]

[1] See http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20140127/CRPT-113hrpt-HR2642-SOM.pdf

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 expired at the end of fiscal year 2012. The American Taxpayer Relief Actextended the provisions of the 2008 farm bill for one year – giving the House and Senate time to pass a long term authorization. “The Senate adopted S. 954 by a vote of 66-27 on June 10, 2013.  On July 11, the House passed H.R. 2642by a vote of 216-208. On September 19, the House passed a stand-alone nutrition bill H.R. 3102, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 by a vote of 217-210.  The House subsequently adopted a resolution H.Res. 361 that combined the texts of H.R. 2642 and H.R. 3102 into one bill (H.R. 2642) for purposes of resolving differences with the Senate.”[1] On October 11, 2013, the House agreed to a conference.[2]The House passed H.R. 3695, a one month extension of the 2008 farm bill, by voice vote.

[1] See http://www.crs.gov/pdfloader/R43076.

[2] See http://www.lis.gov/cgi-lis/bdquery/D?d113:1:./temp/~bd2MBs:@@@X:dbs=n:|/billsumm/billsumm.php?id=2|.

CBO estimates that direct spending stemming from the programs authorized by the conference agreement would total $956 billion over the 2014-2023 period, of which $756 billion would be for nutrition programs. Relative to spending and revenues projected under CBO’s May 2013 baseline, CBO estimates that enacting the conference agreement would lower budget deficits by $16.6 billion over that 10-year period.