Congress has enacted 18 farm bills since the 1930s – they are five year programs. The current one was scored by the Congressional Budget Office at $428 billion. The next farm bill is likely to spend approximately $650 million over the next five years
Title I: Commodity Programs
Title II: Conservation Programs
Title III: Trade Programs
Title IV: Nutrition Programs
Title V: Credit
Title VI: Rural Development
Title VII: Research and Extension
Title VIII: Forestry
Title IX: Energy
Title X: Horticulture and Specialty Crops
Title XI: Crop Insurance
Title XII: Miscellaneous
The Congressional Research Service provides a good primer on the issues to be considered with this new farm bill. CRS Report: Preparing for the Next Farm Bill
What’s in it for dairy?
Traditionally, farm bills don’t have money designated for livestock producers in the same way that it supports program crops, but there are a couple of important provisions for dairy producers:
Dairy Margin Coverage Program
Federal Milk Marketing Orders
In addition, there are a number of other programs that impact dairy farmers:
CRP
EQIP