Farm bill

Taxpayers are on the hook after changes in the Farm Bill

For almost two decades, farmers have gotten what are called “direct payments” from the government.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack talks polar vortex, the farm bill, and food prices.

As the negotiations in Congress continue on the massive farm bill, what impact does the government’s price controls of milk really have?

There are plenty of issues that still need to be dealt with before any grand bargain -- everything from the Farm Bill to unemployment insurance to the debt limit.

In an effort to get it passed, some in Congress want to split the food-stamps part of the bill from the farm subsidy part.

A battle is brewing over a California law that requires laying-hens to be given more space in the coop. Other egg-producing states want to override the law’s requirement.

Tucked into the farm bill is language that would add means testing to the federally subsidized crop insurance program.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack hopes organic farming will help financially strapped small-scale farmers.