Farm Bill Budget and Costs: 2002 vs 2007

Since many provisions of the current omnibus farm bill (P.L. 107-171, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002) expire this year, the 110th Congress soon will be making final decisions about the content of a new farm bill. Unlike the 2002 farm bill, which was crafted at a time of large budget surpluses, the 2007 farm bill debate is being driven in part by relatively large budget deficits and growing demands
for fiscal constraint. Questions frequently asked about farm bill spending are: What is the estimated cost of the soon-to-expire 2002 farm bill? How much more or less has actually been spent on the 2002 farm bill than what was estimated at the time of enactment? How much will Congress be allowed to spend on the next farm bill? This report answers these questions in terms of the actual and estimated expenditures on major farm bill programs for the last six years, and projections of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for the next several years, which, together with the FY2008
budget resolution, determine the fiscal parameters of the 2007 farm bill.