Food Stamps Kills Farm Bill

Jun 21, 2013

Food Stamps Kills Farm Bill

U.S. House Defeats Farm Bill

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The Republican controlled House rejected the massive Farm Bill on Thursday - the vote was 234-195 against the measure.

The majority of Democrats in the House, 24, voted no because they opposed the food stamp cuts. But Democrats weren’t the only ones who voted no, 62 Republicans also voted against the bill, which called for deeper cuts to food stamps. About 80 percent of the farm bill currently goes towards food stamps, while the remaining falls under farm policy.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calls the defeat of the farm bill “disappointing,” noting that a lack of leadership is to blame. Vilsack also said “the House version of this bill would have unfairly denied food assistance for millions of struggling families and their children, while failing to achieve needed reforms or critical investments to continue economic growth in rural America.”

Another extension of the 2008 farm bill would make most farmers happy, with dairy farmers being the exception. If the bill is extended for the second time, that would mean that farmers would receive direct payments for crops, no changes to crop insurance and no cuts to food stamps.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.