Updated cost estimates of the farm bills that were considered in the Senate and the House during the 112th Congress
The updated estimates are relative to CBO's most recent baseline projections for agriculture, conservation, and nutrition spending. The enclosed tables show the effects on direct spending of:
- S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, as passed by the Senate on June 21, 2012, with appropriate modifications to implement the legislation if it were enacted near the end of 2013. (During the 113th Congress, this legislation has been introduced as S. 10, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013.)
- H.R. 6083, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012, as reported by the House Committee on Agriculture on September 13, 2012, with appropriate modifications to implement the bill if it were enacted near the end of 2013. (This legislation has not been introduced during the 113th Congress.)
In 2012, CBO estimated that enacting either the Senate or House version of the farm bill would cost less than continuing the policies of the 2008 farm bill (Public Law 110-246). Relative to the agency's most recent baseline projections for commodity, land conservation, and nutrition programs, CBO continues to estimate that those bills (as modified to account for a later enactment) would reduce future spending relative to continuing current policies, but the reduction would be significantly smaller than the amounts estimated in 2012.