I wondered why it is called a farm bill since it is all about welfare. Then I remembered that farmers get tons of welfare. They will vote for anyone who promises them more subsidies.
The farm bill is a great grab bag of provisions. The bulk of the money is for nutritional assistance. The major spending for farmers is subsidized crop insurance, but this is a minor part of the overall bill. The biggest chunk of USDA employees work for the Forest Service. Then there are food inspection, export promotion, and agricultural-related research, both applied and in the basic sciences. Then there is Rural Development, which covers low-income housing, business development and utilities in places that HUD, Dept. of Commerce and HHS couldn’t find on a map. (You can drive across the country and count on finding electricity and indoor plumbing along your route because of RD; we wouldn’t have a national electric grid without the rural electrics, which cover more than three quarters of the nation’s land area.) My favorite USDA agency is APHIS, which is concerned with disease control and invasive species. I’ve argued for years that if we were serious about controlling our borders, we’d put APHIS in charge. APHIS kills things, ruthlessly and very efficiently.