What is the Farm Bill?
The “Farm Bill,” as the omnibus package of federal farm and food legislation has come to be known, represents billions of dollars in government expenditures that set the farm, food, and rural policy goals and priorities for the United States. Congress passed the most recent version of the “farm bill,” the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (H.R. 2419), on May 22, 2008, authorizing $289 billion over the next five years.
Despite its nickname, the “farm” bill is really a “food” and “conservation” bill too. In the simplest terms, the farm bill has a tremendous impact on farming livelihoods, how food is grown, and what kinds of foods are grown. This in turn affects the environment, local economies, and public health. These are some pretty good reasons to become involved in advocating for a farm bill that supports health and sustainability!
The following are the titles (or chapters) of the 2008 Farm Bill:
Title I – Commodity Programs
Title II – Conservation
Title III – Trade
Title IV – Nutrition
Title V – Credit
Title VI – Rural Development
Title VII – Research
Title VIII – Forestry
Title IX – Energy
Title X – Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
Title XI – Livestock
Title XII – Crop Insurance
Title XIII – Commodity Futures
Title XIV – Miscellaneous
Title XV – Trade and Tax Provisions
The order and total number of farm bill titles varies from bill to bill.
For more information on the steps of the farm bill process, find out how a bill becomes a law.