What is in this article?:
- White House Proposes $13.3 Billion In Cuts To Farm Safety Net
- Crop insurance
- Conservation
- Disaster assistance
More About:
Disaster assistance
Mandatory disaster assistance will be extended through 2016, but to be eligible, farmers must purchase crop insurance, and it reworks the SURE program, which was developed as the permanent disaster program in the 2008 Farm Bill. The White House plan says SURE provides financial assistance at levels that are 15% higher than crop insurance; it is proposing a change to limit payments that do not exceed 90% of expected farm income in the absence of a natural disaster.
While producer programs consume about 20% of the USDA budget, they will be the only ones cut. There were no cuts proposed to public food aid programs or other parts to the USDA budget.
Summary
The White House has proposed an extensive budget-cutting program that attempts to reduce the deficit. Agriculture spending will be cut by $13.3 billion. The direct payment program will be eliminated. Crop insurance programs will be cut by $8.3 billion and another $2 billion will be taken from conservation spending, all of which will be over a 10-year period. Additionally the permanent disaster program will be reduced to ensure participants do not profit from it.
