U.S. House Passes Ag-Only Farm Bill

Jul 11, 2013

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

In a close vote, the U.S. House passed an ag-only farm bill Thursday. For the first time, it cut out food aid, which left a standalone farm policy piece of legislation. The vote tally was 216-208.

The new House farm bill comes after the House turned down a five-year bill last month. A group of Republican lawmakers voted against the bill, as they hoped for deeper cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps.

Republican leader’s strategy was to split the farm bill in two, to gain more conservative votes – dealing only with farm policy. Democrats fired back accusing the Republicans of turning the farm legislation into a partisan bill, which fails to protect America’s poor.

The Republican-controlled House defied a White House veto warning that was issued Wednesday. The Senate passed its own version of the farm bill earlier this month. Congress doesn’t have much time to pass a singular bill to garner the support of both houses of Congress. The 2008 farm bill extension ends Sept. 30th.

Video: Season 6, Episode 12: Veterinarians’ Perspectives on Managing Swine Herd Health Across All Phases

Identifying challenges in swine production and turning them into solutions through research and team development is the focus of this episode. Dr. Christine Mainquist-Whigham of Pillen Family Farms and DNA Genetics shares insights on herd health, biosecurity and trial work to improve pig performance. She also discusses her team’s research philosophy, how they evaluate rate of investment and how they gather feedback from employees to address challenges and maintain herd health across all phases of production. Dr. Carlos Roudergue of Country View Family Farms discusses the growing complexity of swine production, especially as technology increases and employee interaction decreases. He also shares how their workforce is shifting toward more specialized roles to support herd health and efficiency.