$23 Billion Cut Proposed for Agriculture and Nutrition Programs

October 14, the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees submitted a bipartisan recommendation to the Joint Select Committee for Deficit Reduction to cut spending for agriculture and nutrition programs by $23 billion over the next ten years. Agriculture committee leaders will provide further details of recommended cuts by November 1. The fate of sustainable agriculture conservation and energy programs hangs in the balance.

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka the Budget “Supercommittee”) is charged with reducing the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion or more over the next ten years. October 14 was the deadline for committees to submit their deficit reduction proposals.

In a letter to the Joint Select Committee, Reps. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), chair and ranking member, respectively, of the House Agriculture Committee, and Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Agriculture Committee, underscored the importance in these difficult economic times of sustaining nutrition programs, which comprise the largest portion of the farm bill, and cited the continuing importance of conservation programs to protect the nation’s soils, water quality, and wildlife habitat. They observed that conservation programs had already been cut by $3 billion over the past five years, and that there are 37 programs (including agriculture energy programs) totaling $10 billion which have no baseline funding and are set to expire.