Posted April 17, 2014
After much political discord over the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has lowered its cost estimate by $24 billion
over the next decade, according to a Politico article available here.
The
CBO issued a report on Monday, revising how it calculates the amount
an average beneficiary receives each month under SNAP.
The CBO report also indicates that new programs in the
commodity title will save more than the CBO’s prediction in January. The new programs make estimates uncertain
because producers have yet to sign up and crop price predictions have changed.
A year ago, 2014 corn prices were estimated at $4.45
per bushel and $4.52 in 2015. The CBO’s
new April baseline, however, “expects corn to drop to $3.90 per bushel this
year, and only get back to $4 in 2015.”
Producers will soon choose between two programs: The first, Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC)
program offers early, but temporary, “assistance to growers facing a downward
cycle of prices.” The second, Price Loss
Coverage (PLC) program shares more similarities with the previous counter-cyclical
model of a fixed program with set target prices, which would “typically be
triggered later in a market downturn but then promise the farmer a more
permanent floor to cover production costs.”
For more information on nutrition programs and the
farm bill, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here
and here.
