Don't separate food benefits from agricultural spending in next Farm Bill, American Farm Bureau Federation says

Congress is expected to begin work on the next Farm Bill early next year, and Republicans appear likely to be in control of the House. Expecting conservatives to bring up their past wish that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits be separated from agricultural spending, the largest farm lobby again rejected that idea when it announced its priorities for the bill last week, Chuck Abbott reports for Successful Farming. 

Vincent "Zippy" Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said "It makes perfect sense" to combine SNAP benefits with agricultural supports in the same bill, Abbott reports. The 2014 and 2018 farm bills were delayed "by attempts by conservative Republicans to slash SNAP spending and expand the program’s work requirements." Some conservative think tanks have argued for separating SNAP and farm benefits into separate bills. "Proponents say it would be easier to revamp SNAP that way; other analysts say the approach could put farm programs in peril. Only a small fraction of Americans live on the land," Abbott writes.

"This unified approach has the benefit of bringing farm advocates together with anti-hunger advocates, and it’s the right approach to take," Duvall said. The 2018 Farm Bill is set to expire this fall and SNAP accounts for at least three-fourths of its spending. SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, will cost $1.1 trillion over the next decade while mandatory farm programs will cost $168 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.