[5] In the United States, the farm bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government.

[6] Farm bills can be highly controversial and can impact international trade, environmental conservation, food safety, and the well-being of rural communities.

[7] The first farm bill, known as the Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA), was passed by Congress in 1933 as a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.

The bill includes cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as "food stamps".

[5] The $8 billion in cuts comes from setting a minimum of $20 per year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to receive the Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) deduction, disallow medical marijuana as a deduction and ruling that lottery winners and persons convicted of certain crimes (murder, aggravated sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation and other abuse of children) can't get food stamps.

The 2014 Farm Bill made TAP a permanent disaster program and provided retroactive authority to cover eligible losses back to Oct. 1, 2011.

[14] The CBO reported that original House version, Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (H.R.

[2] The original Senate version, Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 954; 113th Congress), would have decreased direct spending by $17.7 billion and increased revenues by $50 million.

The conference agreement, as well as both the House and Senate bills, would end fixed payments and certain other existing forms of price and income support to producers.

Title IV of the conference agreement would reduce nutrition spending by $8 billion over the 2014-2023 period, CBO estimates.

The Senate-passed bill would reduce nutrition spending by $4 billion over the next 10 years, about half the reduction in the conference agreement.

It contains a proposal to limit heating and cooling allowances for SNAP participants that is less restrictive than the provision include in the conference agreement.

The conference agreement's provisions on crop insurance would increase costs by $5.7 billion over the 2014-2023 period, CBO estimates.

[17] Comments made by the House Republican leadership immediately following the vote suggested that they had expected more Democratic support.

[4] The Senate then voted 68–32 on February 4, 2014, to approve the full five-year farm bill, sending it to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

[20] The Senate bill was opposed by groups focusing on hunger due to its reduction in spending on food stamps.

[23] Both Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor supported the bill and asked other Republicans to do so.

"[9] Feeding America said that the cuts to food stamps would "result in 34 lost meals per month for the affected households.