FACTBOX: Highlights of new five-year farm law
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The five-year, $289 billion U.S. farm law, enacted on Thursday, expands public nutrition, land stewardship and biofuels programs by a combined $15.6 billion over 10 years.
Here are highlights of the bill.
NUTRITION
* Increases public nutrition programs by $10.36 billion over 10 years, including $7.9 billion for food stamps, $1.25 billion for donations to food banks through The Emergency Food Assistance Program and $1.05 billion for a fresh fruit and vegetable school-snack program.
* Ten million people to see larger food stamp benefits. Farm bill increases the standard income deduction for households of less than four people to $144, increases the minimum monthly benefit to $14, and indexes them for inflation. The assets limit to qualify for food stamps also is adjusted. Larger deductions allowed for child care costs.
* Food stamp program is renamed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
FARM SUPPORTS
* Denies all supports to people with more than $500,000 adjusted gross income and denies "direct" payments to people with more than $750,000 in farm income. People with more than $1 million AGI not eligible for land stewardship payments unless two-thirds of income is from farming; waivers allowed.
* Farm payments will be tracked to individuals and "three-entity" rule allowing people to collect subsidies indirectly is eliminated.
* Creates the optional, Average Crop Revenue Election program, the first federal program to shelter growers from poor yields as well as low prices. Participants accept lower crop subsidy rates to qualify for payments linked to nationwide revenue for a crop.
* Sets minor increases in subsidy rates for wheat, soybeans and some smaller-acreage crops.
* Creates standby $3.8 billion disaster relief fund for farmers and ranchers.
LAND STEWARDSHIP
* Increases funding for land stewardship by $4 billion over 10 years.
* Provides additional $2.4 billion for Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which shares the cost of controlling runoff from fields and feedlots.
* Sets target of enrolling 80 million acres by 2013 in the Conservation Stewardship Program, a green payment scheme that pays farmers who practice land, water and wildlife conservation on working lands. CSP gains $1.1 billion in funding. Continued...




