Congress could delay passage of a new five-year farm bill until spring planting given the full plate of legislation needed after the election to avoid a fiscal cliff with its mandatory U.S. budget cuts, a top farm policy expert said on Monday.
The Democrat-controlled Senate passed its version of the bill in June, which would replace traditional crop subsidies with an insurance-like program and cut food aid for the poor – food stamps – by $4 billion. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives splintered over demands by some conservatives to cut food stamps and farm programs even more.