Congress Back to Work on Farm Bill Legislation

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

After a 16 day partial federal U.S. government shutdown, Congress is moving forward on business, which includes the farm bill. Talks are expected to start up again on Monday and continue for the rest of the week.

The 2008 Farm Bill extension expired Sept. 30, with no new bill currently in place. There are several different components to the bill, including crop insurance and perhaps the most contentious, food assistance - which Republicans and Democrats have yet to find a compromise.

It comes down to numbers. The Republicans advocate to cut food stamps by $40 billion, while Democrats propose a $4.5 billion cut. Let’s see if the House and Senate can reconcile its food and farm issues to draft a new Farm Bill law this week.