.

FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies
Appropriations: In Brief
Jim Monke
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
May 27, 2015
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R43938

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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Contents
Scope of Agriculture Appropriations ............................................................................................... 1
Recent Trends in Agriculture Appropriations .................................................................................. 2
Action on FY2016 Agriculture Appropriations ............................................................................... 5
The Administration’s Budget Request for FY2016 ......................................................................... 5
Budget Authority ....................................................................................................................... 5
Policy Proposals ........................................................................................................................ 6

Figures
Figure 1. FY2015 Agriculture Appropriations ................................................................................. 1
Figure 2. Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations, by Title, Since FY2007 ................................. 2
Figure 3. Inflation-Adjusted Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations Since FY2007 .................. 3

Tables
Table 1. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, by Title, FY2012-FY2016 ................. 4
Table 2. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, by Agency, FY2012-FY2016............. 7
Table 3. Congressional Action on Agriculture Appropriations Since FY1995 .............................. 12

Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 12
Key Policy Staff ............................................................................................................................. 13

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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

he Administration released its FY2016 budget request on February 2, 2015. In Congress,
the Agriculture appropriations subcommittees in the House and Senate have held hearings
Twith agency officials and have received their “302(b)” allocations. The discretionary
allocation for the House agriculture subcommittee is $20.650 billion, and $20.510 billion for the
Senate subcommittee. The discretionary caps are set so as not to trigger sequestration. Neither
subcommittee has marked up a bill to distribute the allocation across agencies in its jurisdiction.
Scope of Agriculture Appropriations
The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), except for
the Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and—in even-
numbered fiscal years—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).1
Agriculture appropriations include both mandatory and discretionary spending. But discretionary
amounts are the primary focus during the bill’s development, since mandatory amounts generally
are set by authorizing laws
such as the farm bill.
Figure 1. FY2015 Agriculture Appropriations
(budget authority in billions of dollars)
Figure 1 shows that the
largest discretionary
spending items in the bill
are the Special
Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women,
Infants, and Children
(WIC); agricultural
research; FDA; rural
development; foreign food
aid and trade; farm
assistance programs; food
safety inspection;
conservation; and animal
and plant health programs.
The main mandatory

spending items are the
Source: CRS, compiled from P.L. 113-235. Does not show some agencies
Supplemental Nutrition
under $0.5 billion, including CFTC, AMS, GIPSA, and department
administration that together are offset by reductions.
Assistance Program
(SNAP), child nutrition,
Notes: CCC = Commodity Credit Corp.; SNAP = Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program; WIC = Special Supplemental Nutrition
crop insurance, and the
Program for Women, Infants, and Children; CSFP = Commodity
Commodity Credit
Supplemental Food Program; FDA = Food and Drug Admin.; FSA = Farm
Corporation, which pays for
Service Agency; RMA = Risk Management Agency; FSIS = Food Safety and
the farm commodity and
Inspection Service; APHIS = Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service;
conservation programs.
AMS = Agricultural Marketing Service; GIPSA = Grain Inspection, Packers
and Stockyards Admin.

1 Jurisdiction over CFTC appropriations differs between the House and Senate. Since FY2008, CFTC is marked up in
the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Financial Services and General Government
Appropriations Subcommittee. The enacted appropriation is carried in Agriculture appropriations in even-numbered
fiscal years, and Financial Services appropriations in odd-numbered fiscal years.
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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Recent Trends in Agriculture Appropriations
The FY2015 Agriculture appropriation was reported in both chambers but not passed on the floor.
Through an omnibus appropriation, it had discretionary authority of $20.825 billion (House basis
with CFTC). Mandatory spending carried in the bill totaled $126.49 billion (Figure 1).
For FY2016, the “302(b)” subcommittee allocation reported in the House is $20.650 billion
(H.Rept. 114-118) and $20.510 billion in the Senate (S.Rept. 114-55). The Senate allocation does
not need to cover CFTC, which makes it effectively $110 million more than a comparative
allocation in the House if CFTC were to be held constant. The House allocation would be a
reduction of 0.8% from FY2015 (the historical line and current-year dots in Figure 2; Table 1).
Markup has not yet occurred to distribute either chamber’s allocation.
The stacked bars in Figure 2 represent the discretionary spending authorized for each title. The
total of the positive stacked bars has been higher than the “302(b)” discretionary spending limit
(the line) because of the offset offered by the General Provisions title and other scorekeeping
adjustments. General provisions are negative mostly because of limits placed on certain
mandatory programs, which are scored as “Changes in Mandatory Program Spending
(CHIMPS),” and also rescissions (see Table 2 for nominal data and amounts by agency).
Figure 2. Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations, by Title, Since FY2007
Dollars in Millions
Admin House Senate Discretionary Appropriations
I: Agricultural Programs
II: Conservation Programs
7,336
7,281
6,885
6,789 6,787
6,850
6,677 6,356
III: Rural Development
6,633
1,009
6,443
889
826
859 1,032
IV: Domestic Food Programs
969
844
2,979
781
2,638
2,570 2,582 2,759
938 2,732
2,405 2,280
853
V: Foreign Assistance
2,334
2,500
VI: Related Agencies
7,655 7,128 7,001
7,234
6,926 7,153 7,094 7,110
6,374
5,523
VII: General Provisions and
Scorekeeping adjustments
2,089 1,891 1,836 1,706 1,838 1,848 1,813
Discretionary total "302(b)"
1,479 1,476 1,499
House basis w/ CFTC
1,672 1,828 2,197 2,526 2,659 2,711 2,580 2,776 2,847 3,066
Discretionary total "302(b)"
-761 -1,490 -881 -291 -1,958 -1,713 -915 -1,071 -1,193 -1,367
Senate basis w/o CFTC
2016
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Admin House Senate

Source: CRS.
Notes: Fiscal year budget authority. Includes only regular annual appropriations; includes CFTC regardless of
jurisdiction (except for FY2016 Senate amount). For FY2016, House and Senate appropriators have made
subcommittee allocations, but the agriculture subcommittees have not yet marked up their bills.
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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Increases in the use of CHIMPS and other tools to offset discretionary appropriations have
ameliorated reductions in budget authority since FY2010. For example, the official “302(b)”
discretionary total for the bill declined 10.6% from FY2010 to FY2015 ($23.3 billion to $20.8
billion, Figure 2), while the total of titles I-VI declined only 6.7% over that same period ($23.6
billion to $22.0 billion).
Figure 3 illustrates a 10-year series of Agriculture appropriations on an inflation-adjusted basis.
In constant FY2016 dollars, FY2015 Agriculture appropriations are 18% below their peak in
FY2010, but have risen 2.7% above the FY2013 post-sequestration level. The FY2016 House
subcommittee allocation would be about 2.4% below the inflation-adjusted amount for FY2015,
about equal to the post-sequestration amount in FY2013, and on par with FY2007-FY2008.
Over time, changes by title of the bill generally have been proportionate to changes in the total
discretionary Agriculture appropriation, though some areas have sustained real increases while
others have declined (separate from the peak in 2010). Agencies with sustained real increases
since FY2007 include the Food and Drug Administration and CFTC (Related Agencies), the
domestic food programs, and to a lesser extent foreign assistance. Agencies with real decreases
since 2007 include rural development, discretionary conservation programs, and general
agricultural programs.
Figure 3. Inflation-Adjusted Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations Since FY2007
Inflation-adjusted
FY2016 Dollars in
Admin House Senate Discretionary Appropriations
Millions
I: Agricultural Programs
8,093
II: Conservation Programs
7,623
7,451 7,100
6,990
7,281
6,895
7,468
6,644
7,403
III: Rural Development
1,114
1,079
962
3,286
898
850
873 1,032
IV: Domestic Food Programs
1,056
817
3,040
2,854 2,558
980
2,646
2,383
2,623 2,759
2,628
V: Foreign Assistance
2,873
8,445 7,713
VI: Related Agencies
8,050
7,445 7,240 7,364 7,207 7,110
7,176
6,346
VII: General Provisions and
Scorekeeping adjustments
2,305 2,047 1,952 1,783 1,893 1,878 1,813
1,699 1,662 1,669
Discretionary total "302(b)"
House basis w/ CFTC
1,922 2,058 2,445 2,787 2,878 2,883 2,697 2,858 2,893 3,066
Discretionary total "302(b)"
-875 -1,677 -980 -320 -2,119 -1,821 -956 -1,103 -1,212 -1,367
Senate basis w/o CFTC
2016
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Admin House Senate

Source: CRS.
Notes: Fiscal year budget authority, adjusted for inflation by CRS using the GDP price deflator. Includes only
regular appropriations; includes CFTC regardless of jurisdiction (except for FY2016 Senate amount). For
FY2016, appropriators have made subcommittee al ocations, but subcommittees have not yet marked up bills.
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Table 1. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, by Title, FY2012-FY2016

FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015
FY2016
Change from
P.L. 113-6
P.L. 113-
Admin.
FY2015 Enacted to
Title of Agriculture Appropriations Act
P.L. 112-55 post-sequ. P.L.
113-76
235
Request House Senate FY2016 Request
I:
Agricultural
Programs
24,970.2 27,938.8 29,938.1 30,182.1 27,278.5 —
—
-2,903.6 -9.6%
Mandatory (M)
18,293.5
21,582.7 23,149.1 23,395.3 19,997.5 — —
-3,397.8
-14.5%
Discretionary 6,676.7
6,356.2 6,789.0 6,786.9 7,281.0 — — +494.2
+7.3%
II:
Conservation
Programs
844.0 781.2 825.8 859.3
1,032.1
—
— +172.8
+20.1%
III:
Rural
Development
2,405.2 2,279.9 2,569.7 2,582.4 2,759.0 —
—
+176.5
+6.8%
IV:
Domestic
Food
Programs
105,553.0 104,098.0 108,585.6 110,190.9 112,347.1 —
—
+2,156.2 +2.0%
Mandatory (M)
98,551.9
97,171.9 101,432.9 103,096.7 105,237.5 — —
+2,140.8
+2.1%
Discretionary 7,001.1
6,926.1 7,152.7 7,094.1 7,109.6 — — +15.4
+0.2%
V:
Foreign
Assistance
1,835.7 1,705.9 1,838.5 1,848.3 1,812.5 —
—
-35.8
-1.9%
VI: Food and Drug Administration
2,505.8
2,386.0
2,560.7
2,597.3
2,744.0
—
—
+146.7
+5.6%
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
205.3
[194.0]
215.0
[250.0]
322.0
—
—
+72.0
+28.8%
VII: General Provisions: CHIMPS & rescissions
-1,650.7
-918.4
-987.0
-802.0
-969.0
—
—
-167.0
+20.8%
General Provisions: Other appropriations
377.1
132.5
106.6
122.6
0.0
—
—
-122.6
-100.0%
Scorekeeping
adjustments
-72.0 -129.0 -191.0 -398.0 -398.0 —
—
+0.0
+0.0%
Subtract disaster declaration in this bill
-367.0
—
—
-116.0 —
—
—
+116.0
—
Discretionary: Senate basis w/o CFTC
[19,556.0]
19,520.4
[20,665.0]
20,575.0
21,371.2
[20,400.0]
20,510.0
+796.2 +3.9%
Discretionary: House basis w/ CFTC
19,761.3
[19,714.4]
20,880.0
[20,825.0]
21,693.2
20,650.0
[20,760.0] +868.2 +4.2%
Mandatory
(M)
116,845.4 118,754.6 124,582.0 126,492.0 125,235.0
— —
-1,257.0
-1.0%
Total: House basis w/ CFTC
136,606.7
138,469.0
145,462.0
147,317.0
146,928.2
— — -388.8
-0.3%
Source: CRS, using appropriations committee and CBO tables. Amounts are nominal budget authority in mil ions of dollars. Amounts are discretionary authority unless
labeled otherwise. Amounts do not include supplemental appropriations outside the annual appropriation. FY2016 amounts are the 302(b) allocations, made comparable
assuming a constant CFTC amount; the request is an unofficial compilation of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and USDA data. Amounts for FY2013 are at the
post-sequestration level from the USDA Operating Plan. [Bracketed amounts] are not in the official totals due to differing House-Senate jurisdiction for CFTC.
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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Action on FY2016 Agriculture Appropriations
The agriculture subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have held
hearings with agency officials on the Administration’s budget request (next section). They are
expected to mark up bills after a budget resolution is adopted and they receive allocations from
the full committees.2 Last year, both of the agriculture subcommittees marked up bills on May 20,
2014, one of the earliest markups by both subcommittees in two decades (Table 3).
The House Appropriations Committee reported its FY2016 allocations to the subcommittees on
April 29, 2015 (H.Rept. 114-97). The discretionary allocation for the Agriculture and related
agencies bill is $20.650 billion, which would be $175 million less than (-0.8%) the comparable
amount for FY2015 ($20.825 billion).3 Markup of an Agriculture appropriations bill has not yet
occurred to distribute the FY2016 allocation to the agency or account level.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet made allocations to the subcommittees.
The Administration’s Budget Request for FY2016
The White House released its FY2016 budget request on February 2, 2015.4 USDA concurrently
released its budget summary5 and budget explanatory notes6 with more programmatic details.
Budget Authority
Although the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not yet released an official re-estimate of
the President’s budget request and compiled it for subcommittee jurisdiction, the discretionary
total of accounts in the FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies appropriations bill is likely
about $21.7 billion (on a House jurisdiction basis that includes CFTC).7 This would be about
$868 million more than the comparable House-basis amount from FY2015 (+4.2%). The
mandatory amount carried in the Agriculture appropriation is likely about $125 billion, down
about $1.3 billion from FY2015. Thus, the total of mandatory and discretionary spending is likely
$147 billion in the Administration’s FY2016 request, about $389 million less than in FY2015.

2 See CRS Report R42388, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction, for context on procedures.
3 Because jurisdiction for CFTC appropriations is different across House and Senate appropriations subcommittees, the
enacted FY2015 CFTC appropriation was in the Financial Services and General Government appropriation. Thus, the
enacted FY2015 Agriculture appropriation was based on Senate jurisdiction ($20.575 billion) and needs to be increased
by the amount of the CFTC appropriation ($250 million) to be comparable for House jurisdiction ($20.825 billion).
4 Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FY2016 Budget of the U.S. Government, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/
omb/budget. See especially the details in the Appendix, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Appendix. Note that
the USDA request includes the Forest Service, which is in the Interior appropriations jurisdiction. The request for FDA
is in the Appendix for the Department of Health and Human Services, and CFTC is with Other Independent Agencies.
5 USDA, FY2016 USDA Budget Summary, at http://www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/fy16budsum.pdf.
6 USDA, FY2016 USDA Budget Explanatory Notes, at http://www.obpa.usda.gov/fy16explan_notes.html.
7 This is an unofficial compilation by CRS that may change after CBO provides official scores of the general provisions
title—particularly for limitations on mandatory programs (changes in mandatory program spending, a.k.a. CHIMPS)
that depend on how sequestration is incorporated, and scorekeeping adjustments. The standard deviation of this
estimated total for discretionary budget authority is likely about 1%.
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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

The Administration is requesting funding increases for most agencies in the Agriculture bill. The
total of the increases for agencies that would see their discretionary budget authority rise is a
change of +$1.132 billion, and mostly can be summarized as follows (Table 2):
• Agricultural research: +$220 million for the Agricultural Research Service—
mostly for buildings and facilities—and +$214 million for the National Institute
of Food and Agriculture—mostly for expansion of competitive grants.
• Rural development: +$177 million—mostly for rural housing grants, rural water
and broadband, and new programs for rural child poverty and healthy foods.
• Conservation: +173 million—mostly for new discretionary funding for watershed
and flood prevention that would address climate change.
• Food and Drug Administration: +$147 million, mostly for food safety, and
animal drugs and feed regulatory activities.
• USDA Administration: +$92 million, mostly to modernize headquarters facilities.
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission: +$72 million.
Reductions totaling -$91 million are shared across four agencies, including the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service, Food Safety Inspection Service, Farm Service Agency, and Food for
Peace (P.L. 480) program; each reduction would be 3% or less compared to FY2015. Additional
offsets in the general provisions title and scorekeeping adjustments are estimated to be $174
million greater than in FY2015, mostly from changes in mandatory program spending (CHIMPS)
and the absence of supplemental disaster assistance. These increases and reductions combine to
the net +$868 million change in the discretionary total compared with FY2015.
Policy Proposals
Among the policy-related proposals, the Administration proposes to allow more of the
international food aid budget to be used for local and regional procurement of food.8 The
Administration also proposes authorizing legislation to reduce crop insurance subsidies for
policies providing revenue protection with “harvest price coverage.”9
The Administration also requests to administratively restructure two areas that would affect
Agriculture appropriations (the FY2016 budget request, however, continues to reflect the current
alignment). First, the Administration requests to consolidate the food safety activities of the
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration into a new
agency in the Department of Health and Human Services. Similar restructurings have been
proposed, but reorganizations have not occurred.10 Second, the Administration requests to
consolidate business and trade programs across several agencies, which would affect the rural
business programs of USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service.
For a discussion of other policy issues that affected the FY2015 appropriation, see CRS Report
R43669, Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2015 Appropriations.

8 For background, see CRS Report R41072, U.S. International Food Aid Programs: Background and Issues.
9 For more background, see CRS Report R43758, Farm Safety Net Programs: Background and Issues.
10 For more background, see CRS Report R42885, Food Safety Issues for the 114th Congress.
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Table 2. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, by Agency, FY2012-FY2016
FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015
FY2016
Change from
P.L. 113-6
P.L. 113-
Admin.
FY2015 Enacted to
Agency or Major Program
P.L. 112-55 post-sequ.a P.L.
113-76
235
Requestb Housec Senated
FY2016 Request
Title I: Agricultural Programs

Departmental
Administration
507.6 531.3 526.1 364.5 456.1
—
—
+91.6
+25.1%
Research,
Education
and
Economics

Agricultural
Research
Service
1,094.6 1,016.9 1,122.5 1,177.6 1,397.4 —
—
+219.8
+18.7%
National Institute of Food & Agriculture
1,202.3
1,142.0
1,277.1
1,289.5
1,503.1
—
—
+213.6
+16.6%
National
Agricultural
Statistics
Service
158.6 166.6 161.2 172.4 180.3
—
—
+7.9
+4.6%
Economic
Research
Service
77.7 71.4 78.1 85.4 86.0
— —
+0.6
+0.8%
Under Secretary, Research, Education, Econ.
0.8
0.8
0.9
0.9
0.9
—
—
+0.0
+1.0%
Marketing
and
Regulatory
Programs

Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service
819.7
761.4
824.9
874.5
859.0
—
—
-15.5
-1.8%
Agricultural
Marketing
Service
83.4 75.7 81.3 82.4 84.4
— —
+1.9
+2.3%
Section
32
(M)
1,080.0 1,049.6 1,107.0 1,284.0 1,303.0 —
—
+19.0
+1.5%
Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards
37.8
37.3
40.3
43.0
44.1
—
—
+1.1
+2.4%
Under
Secretary,
Marketing
and
Regulatory 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9
— — +0.0
+1.0%
Food Safety

Food Safety & Inspection Service
1,004.4
977.3
1,010.7
1,016.5
1,011.6
—
—
-4.9
-0.5%
Under
Secretary,
Food
Safety
0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8
— — +0.0
+1.0%
Farm
and
Commodity
Programs

Farm Service Agencye
1,612.5 1,503.9 1,592.2 1,603.3 1,579.1 —
—
-24.1
-1.5%
FSA Farm Loans: Loan Authorityf
4,787.1 4,575.7 5,527.3 6,402.1 6,402.1 — — +0.0
+0.0%
Risk Management Agency Salaries & Exp.
74.9
69.1
71.5
74.8
76.9
—
—
+2.1
+2.8%
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (M)g
3,142.4 9,514.5 9,502.9 8,666.0 8,174.0 —
—
-492.0
-5.7%
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FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015
FY2016
Change from
P.L. 113-6
P.L. 113-
Admin.
FY2015 Enacted to
Agency or Major Program
P.L. 112-55 post-sequ.a P.L. 113-76
235
Requestb
Housec Senated
FY2016 Request
Title VII: General Provisions

Changes
in
Mandatory
Program
Spending
-1,631.8 -893.0 -953.7 -785.0 -949.0 —
—
-164.0
+20.9%
Rescissions
-18.9 -25.3 -33.3 -17.0 -20.0
— —
-3.0
+17.6%
Other
appropriations
377.1 132.5 106.6 122.6 0.0
—
— -122.6
-100.0%
Subtotal

-1,273.6 -785.9 -880.4 -679.4 -969.0 — — -289.6 +42.6%
Scorekeeping Adjustmentsk

Disaster declaration in this bill
-367.0 —
—
-116.0 —
—
—
— —
Other
scorekeeping
adjustments
-72.0 -129.0 -191.0 -398.0 -398.0 —
—
+0.0
+0.0%
Subtotal
-439.0 -129.0 -191.0 -514.0 -398.0 — —
+116.0 -22.6%
Totals

Discretionary: Senate basis w/o CFTC
[19,556.0]
19,520.4
[20,665.0]
20,575.0
21,371.2
[20,400.0]
20,510.0 +796.2 +3.9%
Discretionary: House basis w/ CFTC
19,761.3
[19,714.4]
20,880.0
[20,825.0]
21,693.2
20,650.0
[20,760.0]
+868.2 +4.2%
Mandatory
(M)
116,845.4 118,754.6 124,582.0 126,492.0 125,235.0 —
—
-1,257.0 -1.0%
Total: House basis w/ CFTC
136,606.7
138,469.0
145,462.0
147,317.0
146,928.2
— — -388.8 -0.3%
Source: CRS, using appropriations committee tables, unpublished CBO tables, and OMB and USDA data.
Notes: Amounts are budget authority in millions of dollars and are in nominal dollars. Amounts do not include supplemental appropriations outside the annual
appropriation. Amounts are discretionary authority unless labeled otherwise; (M) indicates that the account is mandatory authority (or primarily mandatory authority).
[Bracketed amounts] are not in the official totals due to differing House-Senate jurisdiction for CFTC but are shown for comparison.
a. Amounts for FY2013 are at the post-sequestration level from the USDA FY2013 Operating Plan, at http://www.dm.usda.gov/foia/docs/USDA_Operating_Plan.pdf.
b. Amounts for the FY2016 Administration Request are an unofficial CRS compilation from the OMB Budget Appendix and USDA Budget and Explanatory Notes.
Estimates may change when CBO releases its official re-estimate of the budget request, particularly for Section 32, Commodity Credit Corporation, Federal Crop
Insurance Corporation, limitations (CHIMPS) in the general provisions that may be affected by sequestration, and scorekeeping adjustments.
c. The FY2016 discretionary subtotal in the House column is the 302(b) subcommittee al ocation in H.Rept. 114-118. The Agriculture appropriations subcommittee
has not yet marked up a bill to distribute this amount across agencies and programs. The amount is made comparable to the Senate subcommittee’s jurisdiction by
subtracting an assumed constant $250-million appropriation for CFTC.
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d. The FY2016 discretionary subtotal in the Senate column is the 302(b) subcommittee al ocation in S.Rept. 114-55. The Agriculture appropriations subcommittee has
not yet marked up a bill to distribute this amount across agencies and programs. The amount is made comparable to the House subcommittee’s jurisdiction by
adding an assumed constant $250-mil ion appropriation for CFTC.
e. Includes regular FSA salaries and expenses, plus transfers for farm loan program salaries and administrative expenses. Also includes farm loan program loan subsidy,
State Mediation Grants, Dairy Indemnity Program (mandatory funding), and Grassroots Source Water Protection Program. Does not include appropriations to the
Foreign Agricultural Service for export loans and P.L. 480 administration that are transferred to FSA.
f.
Loan authority is the amount of loans that can be made or guaranteed with a loan subsidy; it is not added in the budget authority subtotals or totals.
g. Commodity Credit Corporation and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation each receive an indefinite appropriation (“such sums as necessary”). Estimates for
appropriations may not reflect actual outlays.
h. Includes Rural Development salaries and expenses, and transfers from the three rural development agencies for salaries and expenses. Amounts for the agencies
thus reflect program funds for loans and grants.
i.
Amounts for the Rural Business-Cooperative Service are before the rescission from the Cushion of Credit account, unlike in Appropriations committee tables. The
rescission is included with the changes in mandatory program spending (CHIMPS), which allows the RBCS subtotal to remain positive.
j.
Jurisdiction for CFTC is in the House agriculture appropriations subcommittee and the Senate financial services appropriations subcommittee. After FY2008, CFTC
is carried in enacted Agriculture appropriations in even-numbered fiscal years, always in House Agriculture markup and never in Senate Agriculture markup.
[Bracketed amounts] are not in the official totals due to differing House-Senate jurisdiction for CFTC but are shown for comparison.
k. “Scorekeeping adjustments” are not necessarily appropriated items and may not be shown in appropriations committee tables, but are part of the official CBO score
(accounting) of the bill. They predominantly include “negative subsidies” in loan program accounts and adjustments for disaster designations in the bill.

CRS-11
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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Table 3. Congressional Action on Agriculture Appropriations Since FY1995
House Action
Senate Action
Final Appropriation
Fiscal
CRS
Year
Subcom. Comm. Chamber Subcom. Comm. Chamber Enacteda Public
La
Re
w port
1995 5/26/1994 6/9/1994 6/17/1994 6/22/1994 6/23/1994 7/20/1994 9/30/1994 E
P.L.
103-330 IB94011
1996 6/14/1995 6/27/1995 7/21/1995 9/13/1995 9/14/1995 9/20/1995 10/21/1995 E P.L.
104-37 95-624
1997 5/30/1996 6/6/1996 6/12/1996 7/10/1996 7/11/1996 7/24/1996 8/6/1996 E
P.L.
104-180 IB96015
1998 6/25/1997 7/14/1997 7/24/1997 7/15/1997 7/17/1997 7/24/1997 11/18/1997 E P.L.
105-86 97-201
1999 6/10/1998 6/16/1998 6/24/1998 6/9/1998 6/11/1998 7/16/1998 10/21/1998 O
P.L.
105-277 98-201
2000 5/13/1999 5/24/1999 6/8/1999 6/15/1999 6/17/1999 8/4/1999 10/22/1999 E
P.L.
106-78 RL30201
2001 5/4/2000 5/16/2000 7/11/2000 5/4/2000 5/10/2000 7/20/2000 10/28/2000 E
P.L.
106-387 RL30501
2002 6/6/2001 6/27/2001 7/11/2001
Polled
outb 7/18/2001 10/25/2001 11/28/2001 E P.L.
107-76 RL31001
2003 6/26/2002 7/26/2002
—
7/23/2002 7/25/2002
—
2/20/2003 O
P.L.
108-7 RL31301
2004 6/17/2003 7/9/2003 7/14/2003 7/17/2003 11/6/2003 11/6/2003 1/23/2004 O
P.L.
108-199 RL31801
2005 6/14/2004 7/7/2004 7/13/2004 9/8/2004 9/14/2004
—
12/8/2004 O
P.L.
108-447 RL32301
2006 5/16/2005 6/2/2005 6/8/2005 6/21/2005 6/27/2005 9/22/2005 11/10/2005 E
P.L.
109-97 RL32904
2007 5/3/2006 5/9/2006 5/23/2006 6/20/2006 6/22/2006 —
2/15/2007 Y
P.L.
110-5 RL33412
2008 7/12/2007 7/19/2007 8/2/2007 7/17/2007 7/19/2007
—
12/26/2007 O
P.L.
110-161 RL34132
2009
6/19/2008
—
—
Polled out
7/17/2008
—
3/11/2009
O P.L. 111-8
R40000
2010 6/11/2009 6/18/2009 7/9/2009 Polled
out 7/7/2009 8/4/2009 10/21/2009 E
P.L.
111-80 R40721
2011
6/30/2010
—
—
Polled out
7/15/2010
—
4/15/2011
Y P.L. 112-10
R41475
2012 5/24/2011 5/31/2011 6/16/2011 Polled
out 9/7/2011 11/1/2011 11/18/2011 O
P.L.
112-55 R41964
2013
6/6/2012
6/19/2012
—
Polled out
4/26/2012
—
3/26/2013
O P.L. 113-6
R43110
2014 6/5/2013 6/13/2013 — 6/18/2013 6/20/2013 —
1/17/2014 O
P.L.
113-76 R43110
2015 5/20/2014 5/29/2013
—
5/20/2014 5/22/2014
—
12/16/2014 O
P.L.
113-235 R43669
2016 tbdc tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd tbd

R43938
Source: CRS.
a. E=Enacted as stand-alone appropriation; O=Omnibus appropriation; Y=Year-long continuing resolution.
b. A procedure that permits a bill to advance if subcommittee members independently agree to move it along.
c. tbd=To be determined.

Author Contact Information
Jim Monke
Specialist in Agricultural Policy
jmonke@crs.loc.gov, 7-9664
Congressional Research Service
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FY2016 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Key Policy Staff
Area of Expertise
Name
Phone
Email
Agricultural appropriations general y
Jim Monke
7-9664
jmonke@crs.loc.gov
Agricultural research
Jim Monke
7-9664
jmonke@crs.loc.gov
Agricultural Marketing Service
Joel L. Greene
7-9877
jgreene@crs.loc.gov
Agricultural trade
Mark A. McMinimy
7-2172
mmcminimy@crs.loc.gov
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Renée Johnson
7-9588
rjohnson@crs.loc.gov
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Rena Miller
7-0826
rsmiller@crs.loc.gov
Conservation Megan
Stubbs
7-8707
mstubbs@crs.loc.gov
Crop insurance and farm safety net
Dennis A. Shields
7-9051
dshields@crs.loc.gov
Domestic food assistance
Randy Alison Aussenberg 7-8641 raussenberg@crs.loc.gov
Farm Service Agency
Jim Monke
7-9664
jmonke@crs.loc.gov
Food and Drug Administration
Susan Thaul
7-0562
sthaul@crs.loc.gov
Food safety, general y
Renée Johnson
7-9588
rjohnson@crs.loc.gov
Food safety, meat and poultry inspection
Joel L. Greene
7-9877
jgreene@crs.loc.gov
Foreign food aid
Randy Schnepf
7-4277
rschnepf@crs.loc.gov
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Admin. Joel L. Greene
7-9877
jgreene@crs.loc.gov
Rural development
Tadlock Cowan
7-7600
tcowan@crs.loc.gov
Section 32
Dennis A. Shields
7-9051
dshields@crs.loc.gov

Congressional Research Service
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