Those in favor or restrictions of this nature gave their praise to a U.S. House of Representatives vote.
Reformers for the crop insurance subsidy gave their approval to a vote that was held by the U.S. House of Representatives that would require the wealthier growers to have to pay more in order to take part in the federally subsidized program.
This is also the first time that an eligibility limit has been placed on this highly expensive program.
The federal crop insurance program is already costing the country $9 billion every year, and that number has been rising. This House vote, which was non-binding, will play an important role in the negotiations which will soon be occurring in the Senate for the development of a final version of the latest farm bill – which is already overdue by a year. The Senate had applied a comparable restriction on growers, with over $750,000 adjusted gross income (AGI) per year within the bill.
It is predicted that about 1 percent of all farmers will be impacted by the crop insurance bill provision.
This represents an estimated 20,000 people across the country. However, at the same time, it is expected to save the country $1.3 billion over the span of the next decade. Of the entire farm safety net, the crop insurance program is by far the costliest element. The farm bill would broaden the size of the program by up to 10 percent, while it reduces food stamps for the poor as well as conservation efforts.
The negotiations regarding the farm bill are expected to start again very soon, though there hasn’t been a specific date penciled in quite yet. The House named 29 of its members to become conferees for the five year, $500 billion farm bill. The Senate had made its appointments quite some time ago.
The farm bills are written every few years in order to identify the direction, nature, and funding of conservation, food aid, public nutrition, research agricultural exports, subsidy, and rural economic development programs. The only instruction in the farm bill that received the House approval during a number of votes that opened the doors to Senate negotiations, was the crop insurance reforms.
