Actual Farm Bill Spending and Cost Estimates
Jim Monke
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Renée Johnson
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
April 20, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41195
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repared for Members and Committees of Congress

Actual Farm Bill Spending and Cost Estimates

Summary
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), enacted into law in June 2008,
is the most recent omnibus farm bill and guides most federal farm and food policies. The 112th
Congress likely will consider reauthorization of the 2008 farm bill, because much of the current
law expires in 2012. The omnibus nature of the farm bill—including diverse constituencies
supporting farm subsidies, food stamps, conservation, bioenergy, and international food aid—
helps generate interest across Congress to support passage. However, increasingly tight budgetary
resources are prompting the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee to initiate hearings
starting as early as spring 2010. The Administration already has submitted budget proposals to
reduce farm supports, an approach at odds with that of many farm sector advocates, who support
the status quo.
When the 2008 farm bill was enacted, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated its total
cost (i.e., baseline plus new funding outlays, using the March 2007 baseline) at $284 billion over
five years (FY2008-FY2012) and $604 billion over ten years (FY2008-FY2017). These costs
reflected mandatory outlays that do not require appropriations action. Available information
reflecting more recent CBO estimates for FY2010-FY2012 and actual expenditures for FY2008-
FY2009 indicate that five-year spending on most major farm bill programs will likely be below
that estimated by CBO in 2008, while spending for domestic food assistance programs under the
2008 farm bill will almost certainly be much greater than previously estimated.
More specifically, when the 2008 farm bill was enacted, CBO estimated that the five-year cost
(FY2008-FY2012) for the major farm support programs—commodities, conservation, crop
insurance, renewable energy, and exports—would be $83.3 billion, or an average of $16.7 billion
per year. More current CBO projections, which include actual spending in FY2008 and FY2009
for these programs, shows that spending for these programs is expected to total $88.7 billion (an
average of $17.7 billion per year), or $5.5 billion above the five-year 2008 CBO estimate. Most
of the difference between the 2008 estimate and more recent estimates, however, is attributable to
higher than expected crop insurance spending ($8.2 billion above estimates in 2008), which is
offset by lower than expected spending for farm commodity and farm conservation programs.
Estimated spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (food stamps)
over the five-year period is significantly higher than originally projected in 2008 ($188.9 billion
estimated in 2008, compared to the more current estimate of $314.9 billion), reflecting additional
spending because of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), higher
food costs, and increasing program participation rates due to the recession.
Similar to the conditions during debate on the 2008 farm bill, the upcoming farm bill debate is
likely to be driven in part by relatively large budget deficits and growing demands for fiscal
constraint. As Congress moves toward considering reauthorization of the omnibus farm bill,
questions about the cost of the farm bill and cost considerations among different farm bill
programs will become more prominent. Among the types of questions frequently asked about
farm bill spending are: What is the estimated cost of the current 2008 farm bill? How much more
or less has actually been spent on the 2008 farm bill than was estimated at the time of enactment?
What is the estimated cost of some of the major programs in the 2008 farm bill? This report
begins to answer some of these questions and provides updated information on actual
expenditures for some programs and baseline projections by CBO for spending under current law.

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Actual Farm Bill Spending and Cost Estimates

Contents
Background ................................................................................................................................ 1
2008 Farm Bill............................................................................................................................ 1
Budgetary Considerations During the 2008 Debate................................................................ 1
CBO-Estimated Costs Upon Enactment in 2007/2008 ........................................................... 3
Actual Costs and Updated Cost Projections ........................................................................... 5
Farm Bill Reauthorization ........................................................................................................... 7

Tables
Table 1. CBO-Estimated 5-Year and 10-Year Costs, 2008 Conference Agreement on the
Farm Bill (P.L. 110-246) .......................................................................................................... 4
Table 2. Reported Actual Expenditures (FY2002-FY2009) and Updated CBO Baseline
Projections (FY2010-FY2012) for Selected 2008 Farm Bill Categories of Spending................. 6
Table 3. Cost of the 2008 Farm Bill, Actual (FY2008-FY2009) and
Current Baseline Projections (FY2010-FY2012) versus CBO Estimate at Enactment................ 7

Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................ 8

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Actual Farm Bill Spending and Cost Estimates

Background
The 112th Congress likely will consider reauthorization of the 2008 farm bill because much of the
current law expires in 2012. The 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246, the Food, Conservation, and
Energy Act of 2008), enacted into law on June 18, 2008, is the most recent omnibus farm bill.
This bill succeeded the 2002 farm bill1 and is to guide most federal farm and food policies
through FY2012. The farm bill covers a wide range of programs and provisions, and undergoes
review and reauthorization roughly every five years.
The 2008 farm bill contains 15 titles governing commodity price and income supports, farm
credit, trade, agricultural conservation, research, rural development, energy, and foreign and
domestic food programs such as food stamps and certain other nutrition programs, among other
programs. The omnibus nature of the farm bill—including diverse constituencies supporting farm
subsidies, food stamps, conservation, bioenergy, and international food aid—helps generate
interest across Congress to support passage. The box below shows the titles of the 2008 farm bill
and briefly describes some provisions in each title. More information on individual titles and
programs in the 2008 farm bill is in CRS Report RL34696, The 2008 Farm Bill: Major
Provisions and Legislative Action
.
Similar to the conditions during debate on the 2008 farm bill, the upcoming farm bill debate is
likely to be driven in part by relatively large budget deficits and growing demands for fiscal
constraint. In fact, given the strong belief by most observers that budget reconciliation might be
necessary before the 2008 farm bill expires in 2012, Chairman Peterson of the House Agriculture
Committee is beginning farm bill hearings in 2010 in order to be prepared for possibly marking
up a new farm bill as early as 2011. This could allow the Agriculture Committees to coordinate a
new farm bill’s provisions with any budget reconciliation requirements. The Obama
Administration already has submitted budget proposals to reduce farm supports, an approach at
odds with that of many farm sector advocates, who support the status quo.
2008 Farm Bill
Budgetary Considerations During the 2008 Debate
Each year, CBO issues a baseline budget for all federal spending under current law over a multi-
year period. Projected spending in the baseline represents CBO’s estimate at a particular point in
time of what federal spending and revenues likely would be under current law if no policy
changes were made over the projected period. The baseline serves as a benchmark or starting
point for future budget analyses. Whenever new legislation (such as a farm bill) is introduced that
affects federal mandatory spending, its impact is measured as a difference from the baseline.
For the 2008 farm bill, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) March 2007 baseline budget
served as the official benchmark for the FY2008 budget resolution and for scoring the budgetary
impacts of the bill. The CBO baseline assumed continuation of 2002 farm bill policies under
expected economic conditions at that time. The budget resolution in 2007 set the actual spending
constraints for the agriculture committees as they drafted the new farm bill, which was planned
for 2007 but was not enacted until June 2008.

1 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-171).
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The 2008 Farm Bill: Titles and Selected Programs and Policies
Title I, Commodities: Income support to growers of selected commodities, including wheat, feed grains,
cotton, rice, oilseeds, peanuts, sugar, and dairy. Support is largely through direct payments, counter-cyclical
payments, and marketing loans. Other support mechanisms include government purchases for dairy, and
marketing quotas and import barriers for sugar.
Title II, Conservation: Environmental stewardship of farmlands and improved management practices through
land retirement and working lands programs, among other programs geared to farmland conservation,
preservation, and resource protection.
Title III, Agricultural Trade and Food Aid: U.S. agricultural export and international food assistance
programs, and program changes related to various World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations.
Title IV, Nutrition: Domestic food and nutrition and commodity distribution programs, such as food stamps
and other supplemental nutrition assistance.
Title V, Farm Credit: Federal direct and guaranteed farm loan programs, and loan eligibility rules and policies.
Title VI, Rural Development: Business and community programs for planning, feasibility assessments, and
coordination activities with other local, state, and federal programs, including rural broadband access.
Title VII, Research: Agricultural research and extension programs, including biosecurity and response,
biotechnology, and organic production.
Title VIII, Forestry: USDA Forest Service programs, including forestry management, enhancement, and
agroforestry programs.
Title IX, Energy: Bioenergy programs and grants for procurement of biobased products to support
development of biorefineries and assist eligible farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses in purchasing
renewable energy systems, as well as user education programs.
Title X, Horticulture and Organic Agriculture: A new farm bill title covering fruits, vegetables, and other
specialty crops and organic agriculture.
Title XI, Livestock: A new farm bill title covering livestock and poultry production, including provisions that
amend existing laws governing livestock and poultry marketing and competition, country-of-origin labeling
requirements for retailers, and meat and poultry state inspections, among other provisions.
Title XII, Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance: A new farm bill title covering the federal crop
insurance and disaster assistance previously included in the miscellaneous title (not including the supplemental
disaster assistance provisions in the Trade and Tax title).
Title XIII, Commodity Futures: A new farm bill title covering reauthorization of the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) and other changes to current law.
Title XIV, Miscellaneous: Other types of programs and assistance not covered in other bill titles, including
provisions to assist limited-resource and socially disadvantaged farmers, and agricultural security, among others.
Title XV, Trade and Tax Provisions: A new title covering tax-related provisions intended to offset spending
initiatives for some programs, including those in the nutrition, conservation, and energy titles. The title also
contains other provisions, including the new supplemental disaster assistance and disaster relief trust fund, and
other tax-related provisions such as customs user fees.

More specifically, when Congress approved the FY2008 budget resolution in May 2007, it
adopted the baseline budget as the fiscal parameter for the 2008 farm bill, and included a $20
billion reserve fund (above baseline) for the 2008 farm bill spending over the five-year period
(FY2008-FY2012).2 However, new spending in the 2008 bill was required to be deficit-neutral,

2 Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2008, Deficit-Neutral Reserve Fund for the Farm Bill (H.Rept.
110-153, conference report, Section 307).
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meaning that it had to be offset with equivalent reductions in other federal spending for existing
mandatory programs, or by raising revenues. Large increases in the market prices of corn and
other commodities during the period preceding the farm bill debate contributed to a lower March
2007 baseline for farm program spending. For example, the March 2007 baseline projected
spending for commodity support payments under the 2002 farm bill to be about $40 billion for
the FY2008-FY2012 period, about $30 billion lower than actual spending in the previous six
years—not because of policy changes, but because of market conditions. Baseline estimates for
mandatory conservation and nutrition programs were projected to be higher in the FY2008-
FY2012 period, compared to the 2002 farm bill.
CBO-Estimated Costs Upon Enactment in 2007/2008
When the 2008 farm bill was enacted, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the total
cost of the farm bill (i.e., baseline plus new funding, using the March 2007 baseline) at $284
billion over five years (FY2008-FY2012) and $604 billion over ten years (FY2008-FY2017).
These costs reflected mandatory outlays that do not require appropriations actions. Table 1
provides a title-by-title breakdown of the 2008 CBO spending estimates for the enacted 2008
farm bill, covering both FY2008-FY2012 and FY2008-FY2017. The farm bill also authorized
discretionary programs that require appropriators to provide funds and thus are not reflected in
the table.
The overwhelming share (97%) of estimated total net outlays for programs in the 2008 farm bill
were anticipated to be spent on four titles: nutrition (67%), farm commodity support (15%),
conservation (9%), and crop insurance (8%). Of the $284 billion in projected total five-year net
outlays for programs under the farm bill—including revenue and cost-offset provisions in the
bill—about $189 billion was expected to support the cost of food stamps and certain other
nutrition assistance programs, $42 billion in projected spending was to support commodity crops,
$24 billion to support mandatory conservation programs, and $22 billion to support crop
insurance. For FY2008-FY2012, the 2008 farm bill also included nearly $4 billion in new
spending for supplemental farm disaster assistance (included under Title XV). Another $10
billion was expected to be spent on trade, horticulture and livestock production, rural
development, research, forestry, and energy, among other programs.
Farm commodity programs (Title I) primarily support the incomes of farmers producing grains,
oilseeds, cotton, peanuts, sugar, and milk. Commodity-related spending depends substantially on
farm market prices and so can vary widely from year to year. Another major category of farm
support in the 2008 farm bill is conservation (Title II). Several mandatory conservation programs
compensate farmers for retiring environmentally fragile land (primarily the Conservation Reserve
Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program) and for instituting resource stewardship practices
(e.g., the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program),
among other things. More recent farm bills have also created programs and increased spending
for certain farm-based renewable energy programs, such as the Biomass Crop Assistance Program
(BCAP), the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), and the Biomass R&D Program, among
other energy, research, and rural development programs related to renewable energy (Titles VI,
VII, and IX). The farm bill also contains funding authority for several mandatory agricultural
export programs (Title III), including the Market Access Program, Export Donations, and the
Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program.
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Table 1. CBO-Estimated 5-Year and 10-Year Costs,
2008 Conference Agreement on the Farm Bill (P.L. 110-246)
(outlays in millions of dollars)

FY2008-FY2012
FY2008-FY2017
CBO Score
CBO Score
Baseline
(change)
Total
Baseline
(change)
Total
Commodities
(Title
I)
43,354 (1,726)
41,628
87,179 (1,658)
85,521
Conservation (Title II)
21,392
2,720
24,112
50,699
4,000
54,699
Trade/Food Aid (Title III)
1,823
30
1,853
3,715
(78)
3,637
Nutrition (Title IV)a
186,005 2,897
188,902
397,131 9,218
406,349
Credit
(Title
V)
(1,046) (378)
(1,424)
(2,321) (306)
(2,627)
Rural Development (Title VI)
72
122
194
72
149
221
Research (Title VII)
290
31
321
1,290
(907)
383
Forestry
(Title
VIII)
0 38
38
0 45
45
Energy (Title IX)
41
602
643
43
836
879
Horticulture/Organic (Title X)
0
402
402
0
938
938
Livestock (Title XI)
0
1
1
0
1
1
Crop Insurance (Title XII)
25,718
(3,860)
21,858
52,743
(5,591)
47,152
Commodity Futures (Title XIII)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Miscellaneous (Title XIV)b 6,338
44
6,382
13,668
(138)
13,530
Disaster Assistance (Title XV)
0
3,807
3,807
0
3,807
3,807
Tax/Other (Title XV)
0
(4,798)
(4,798)
0
(10,429)
(10,429)
Total
283,987
(66) 283,921
604,218
(107) 604,111
Source: Compiled by CRS using the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) March 2007 baseline and CBO score
of the conference agreement for H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; also Senate
Finance Committee, Estimated Revenue Effects of the Conference Agreement for Title XV of H.R. 2419, Fiscal Years
2008-2018, 08-2 068 R10, May 13, 2008. May not add due to rounding. Numbers in parentheses are savings.
Notes: “Baseline” is the projection of government costs if programs were to continue unchanged. The baseline
in this table is the 2007 CBO baseline assuming 2002 farm bill programs were to continue, as the 2008 bill was
being drafted. “CBO score” is the cost (or savings) attributable to the 2008 farm bill, using the 2007 baseline as a
benchmark. Thus, the “total” in this table is the projected cost of the 2008 farm bill, equal to baseline plus the
changes made by the 2008 farm bill.
a. New outlays for the expanded Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program required in the nutrition title, $274
million (FY2008-FY2012) and $1.020 billion (FY2008-FY2017), are not reflected in this table because they
are effectively offset with money from permanent appropriations under Section 32, mandated in Title XIV.
b. Excludes estimates for crop insurance previously included as part of the 2002 farm bill’s miscellaneous
provisions. Other provisions in the 2008 farm bill include provisions for socially disadvantaged and limited
resource producers, and agricultural security, among others.
The 2008 farm bill was unusual in that tax provisions outside the jurisdiction of the Agriculture
Committees were used to create offsets for new provisions, presumably for nutrition programs.
Tax-related provisions—particularly from customs user fees and corporate estimated tax
payments in the bill—along with cost savings from some farm bill programs, were expected to
generate additional funding to offset new spending. CBO estimated that titles with offsets in the
bill totaled more than $10 billion over five years (FY2008-FY2012; see Table 1), half of which
came from tax-related provisions and the rest from the credit, crop insurance, and commodity
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program titles. Disaster assistance and programs under the nutrition and conservation titles
accounted for the majority of the projected new spending in the bill.
Actual Costs and Updated Cost Projections
Compared to the 2002 farm bill, the 2008 farm bill is projected to spend less on traditional
commodity programs and provide greater spending for other major farm programs, such as farm
conservation, farm-based renewable energy programs, and agricultural export programs (Table
2
). In part this reflects changes in the underlying market conditions that influence spending levels
(especially for commodities) and also programmatic changes enacted in the farm bill, which in
turn reflect shifting priorities within Congress regarding U.S. farm policy.
The lower portion of Table 2 summarizes CBO’s most recent (March 2010) baseline budget
estimate for the major mandatory USDA programs (FY2010-FY2017). This baseline is CBO’s
estimate of future spending under current law (the 2008 farm bill) for these programs, given
generally expected economic and market conditions.
CBO’s latest baseline estimates (combined with actual spending for FY2008 and FY2009)
indicate that total spending on all farm bill programs will average roughly $75 billion per year
throughout the FY2008-FY2012 period. Starting in FY2010, the majority of all spending (more
than 80%) will be on domestic food assistance programs. About 10% of spending will be for farm
commodity programs, with conservation and renewable energy programs accounting for a
growing share of farm-related expenditures.
Compared to CBO’s projected costs for the 2008 farm bill at the time of enactment, more recent
available information based on actual costs (FY2008 and FY2009) and updated CBO baseline
projections in March 2010 for the next eight years (FY2010-FY2017) shows continued shifts in
spending among selected farm bill programs, particularly for domestic food assistance programs
such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps
(Table 2). Sharply higher spending for domestic food assistance programs in the past few years is
attributable in part to increased nutrition expenditures in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA, P.L. 111-5).3 In some cases, spending differences in the conservation
and bioenergy titles are attributable to programmatic changes enacted in the 2008 farm bill.
These more recent estimates and actual expenditures for FY2008-FY2009 indicate that spending
on most major farm programs has been greater than estimated by CBO in 2008. For example,
when the 2008 farm bill was enacted in June 2008, CBO estimated that the five-year cost
(FY2008-FY2012) of the major farm support programs—commodities, conservation, crop
insurance, renewable energy, and exports—would be $83.3 billion, or an average of $16.7 billion
per year (Table 3).
More current CBO projections, which include actual spending in FY2008-FY2009 for these
programs, shows that spending for these programs is expected to total $88.7 billion (an average of
$17.7 billion per year), or $5.5 billion above the 2008 CBO estimate (Table 3). Most of this
difference between the 2008 estimate and more recent estimates is attributable to higher than
expected crop insurance spending ($8.2 billion above estimates in 2008), tempered by somewhat
lower than expected spending for farm commodity and farm conservation programs.

3 For additional information, see CRS Report R40160, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Rural Provisions in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009
.
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Table 2. Reported Actual Expenditures (FY2002-FY2009) and
Updated CBO Baseline Projections (FY2010-FY2012) for
Selected 2008 Farm Bill Categories of Spending
(outlays in millions of dollars)
Crop
Commodities
Conservation
Insurance Energya Exports Subtotal Food
Stampsb Total
2002 Farm Bill programs (Actual)


FY2002
13,164 2,286
3,466 —
416
19,332
20,637 39,969
FY2003
12,125 2,758
3,589 —
503
18,975
23,816 42,791
FY2004
8,021 2,729
3,125 —
13
13,888
27,099 40,987
FY2005
14,120 3,443
2,698 —
223
20,484
31,072 51,556
FY2006
16,903 3,420
3,372 —
231
23,926
32,912 56,838
FY2007
8,027 3,460
3,842 —
219
15,548
33,193 48,741
Total
(2003-2007) 59,196
15,810
16,626
— 1,189 92,821 148,092
240,913
Average annual
11,839
3,162
3,325

238
18,564
29,618
48,183
2008 Farm Bill programs (FY2008-FY2012)


FY2008 (Actual)
5,663
3,711
4,075
0
209
13,658
37,657
51,315
FY2009
(Actual)
7,147 3,566
7,889 16
297
18,915
55,604 74,519
FY2010 7,460
4,341
6,607
471
290
19,169
70,806
89,975
FY2011 6,848
5,287
7,779
723
368
21,005
75,249
96,254
FY2012 5,360
5,818
3,717
726
360
15,981
75,595
91,576
Total
(2008-2012) 32,478
22,723
30,067
1,936 1,524 88,728 314,911
403,639
Average
annual
6,496 4,545 6,013 387
305
17,746
62,982 80,728
2008 Farm Bill programs (FY2013-FY2017)


FY2013 6,439
6,022
7,561
0
347
20,369
74,127
94,496
FY2014 6,315
6,070
7,765
193
344
20,687
71,672
92,359
FY2015 6,371
6,092
8,007
127
344
20,941
69,345
90,286
FY2016
6,326 6,459
8,152 97
344
21,378
67,034 88,412
FY2017
6,402 6,676
8,280 89
344
21,791
64,725 86,516
Total (2013-2017)
31,853
31,319
39,766
506
1,723
105,167
346,903
452,070
Average
annual
6,371 6,264 7,953 101
345
21,033
69,381 90,414
Source: Compiled by CRS using actual spending data from USDA and CBO, and CBO’s March 2010 baseline.
May not add due to rounding.
a. Spending for farm-based “energy” programs is not readily available for 2002-2008 but is likely relatively
small.
b. Food stamps were renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP in the 2008 farm bill.
Includes food stamps, as wel as increased expenditures beginning in 2009 due to nutrition provisions in
ARRA (P.L. 111-5), among other costs, including costs for commodities under The Emergency Food
Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Puerto Rico block grant.
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Table 3. Cost of the 2008 Farm Bill, Actual (FY2008-FY2009) and
Current Baseline Projections (FY2010-FY2012) versus CBO Estimate at Enactment
(outlays in $ billions)

Annual Average (FY2008-FY2012)
Total (FY2008-FY2012)
Difference
over (+) or
CBO
Actual (2008-2009),
CBO
Actual (2008-2009),
under (-)
Estimate
CBO March 2010
Estimate
CBO March 2010
2008 CBO
(2008)
Baseline (2010-2012)
(2008)
Baseline (2010-2012)
estimate
Commodities 7.0
6.5
34.8 32.5
-2.3
Conservation 4.9
4.5
24.3 22.7
-1.6
Crop Insurance
4.4
6.0
21.9
30.1
+8.2
Energy 0.1
0.4 0.6
1.9 +1.3
Exports 0.3 0.3 1.7
1.5
-0.1
Subtotal 16.7 17.7
83.3
88.7
+5.5
Food Stamps
37.8
63.0
188.9
314.9
+126.0
Total 54.4
80.7 272.2
403.6 +131.5
Source: Compiled by CRS using actual spending data from USDA and CBO, including CBO’s farm bill estimates
and CBO’s March baselines for 2007 and 2010 (referred to as “CBO Estimate (2008)”). May not add due to
rounding.
Estimated spending for food stamps over the five-year period is significantly higher now than
originally projected in 2008 ($188.9 billion in 2008 compared to the more current estimate of
$314.9 billion), reflecting additional spending because of provisions in ARRA, higher food costs,
and increasing program participation rates due to the recession. When farm spending is combined
with food stamp spending, current estimates of the five-year cost of the major provisions of the
2008 farm bill ($404 billion) is about 50% greater than originally estimated by CBO in 2008
($272 billion).
Even though actual or updated projections for the farm commodity programs are below the
projections at the time of the 2008 farm bill was enacted, this does not create “savings” that can
be used for future offsets. Likewise, the fact that nutrition programs are above the 2008
projections does not create a need for offsets to be found to fund these outlays. These are
mandatory programs that are authorized based on need and/or market conditions. Comparisons of
baselines over time are mostly to observe how conditions have changed rather than to gauge the
accuracy of a baseline or the performance of a policy. Nonetheless, the amount in baseline will
have implications when the farm bill is reauthorized.
Farm Bill Reauthorization
Much of the 2008 farm bill expires in 2012 or with the 2012 crop year. In anticipation of this
expiration and the desire by some for a restructuring of commodity supports (for example, to
better reflect whole-farm risk management), the House Agriculture Committee began hearings on
the next farm bill in April 2010. Given a strong belief by most observers that budget
reconciliation might be necessary before the 2008 farm bill expires, the Agriculture Committees
could begin marking up a new farm bill in 2011. This could allow any policy changes in a new
farm bill—including new costs and savings offsets—to be coordinated with budget reconciliation
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requirements. The Administration already has submitted budget proposals for FY2011 to reduce
farm supports, an approach at odds with that of many farm sector advocates, who support the
status quo.
The budget situation for a new farm bill is going to be more like that for the 2008 farm bill than
for the 2002 farm bill. The budget resolution that funded the 2002 farm bill was written during a
brief period of budget surplus at the turn of the millennium, and allowed the Agriculture
Committees to spend $73 billion more than baseline over the 10-year budget window. In contrast,
the 2008 farm bill was basically budget-neutral. The 2008 farm bill was unusual in that tax
provisions outside the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Committees were used to create offsets for
new provisions, presumably for nutrition programs. The procedural difficulties of reaching budget
and policy compromises with multiple committees of jurisdiction (particularly the House and
Senate Agriculture Committees and the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees)
prolonged the development of the farm bill. Given these difficulties in 2007 and 2008, House
Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson has expressed a desire to keep the finances of the
2012 farm bill within the jurisdiction of the Committee of Agriculture.4
A future budget resolution, possibly the FY2012 budget resolution, could be used to set the
parameters against which a new farm bill could be developed and scored. However, certain
intervening policy changes in other active legislation could have consequences for a future farm
bill baseline. For example, in March 2010, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill to
increase funding for child nutrition programs (part of the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition
Act, P.L. 108-265) that used the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) as an offset.
If adopted, this action could reduce baseline levels for the next farm bill by reducing the amount
of available funds in the EQIP baseline calculation.
As Congress moves toward considering reauthorization of the omnibus farm bill, questions about
the cost of the farm bill and policy considerations about different farm bill programs—each with
sometimes different constituencies—will likely become more prominent. This report will be
updated as the farm bill debate evolves, and as additional cost estimates become available.

Author Contact Information

Jim Monke
Renée Johnson
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
jmonke@crs.loc.gov, 7-9664
rjohnson@crs.loc.gov, 7-9588



4 Jerry Hagstrom, “Peterson: No Offset From Environmental Program,” Congress Daily (National Journal), April 16,
2010, at http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/eep_20100416_2225.php?mrefid=lingospot.
Congressional Research Service
8