Farm Bill Would Help Ranchers' Storm Recovery
A massive, five-year farm bill set for a floor vote in the U.S. House Wednesday contains help for South Dakota ranchers dealing with cattle losses from last October's early-season blizzard.
Under the bipartisan compromise reached Monday, ranchers who lost livestock to natural disasters would be able to recoup some of their losses. The provision would be backdated to when the programs initially expired in 2011.
The storm impacted more than 600 farmers and ranchers, some of whom lost more than half their herds.
Passage would mark the first farm bill since a 2008 deal. That bill expired in 2012 but was extended until last September.
Its passage is far from assured in the House, where conservatives have previously bucked party leadership on the issue.
Source: Associated Press