More on the Farm Bill

But the new Farm Bill also has a lot of other good attributes. They include: — Reform of the failed insurance program for dairy farmers. The old system is known as the Margin Protection Program and it was a failure. A lot of dairy farmers facing difficult markets and prices couldn’t get relief from the program despite contributions to it. Now, according to news outlet WWNY, the new changes include improved premium programs and making it cheaper for farms of any size to enroll in the coverage.— AgWeek reported the new Farm Bill gives more flexibility between Agricultural Risk coverage and Price Loss coverage and increases commodity loan rates for many crops.— Cuts to food stamps are not in the new Farm Bill.— It costs the taxpayer nearly $1 trillion, but this is what has been budgeted. This means it will not have an additional impact on the defict, according to the Washington Post.— There is now permanent funding available for farmers markets and local food programs.Not everything in the farm bill is good. Curiously, the new farm bill allows a farmer’s cousins, nieces and nephews to qualify for commodity program payments. Sen. Charles E. Grassley told The Washington Post that “I’m very disappointed the conferees decided to expand the loopholes on farm subsidies,” Grassley said before the vote. “I’ve been trying to make sure the people who get the subsidies are real farmers. … I’ve been trying for three years, and it gets worse and worse and worse.”