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 hereand here.
 
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