Philip Brasher

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2017 - House conservatives spent weeks this spring demanding cuts in nutrition assistance that threatened to complicate passage of a new farm bill. But House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, now says that he expects the final fiscal 2018 budget blueprint to leave farm bill spending unscathed.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2017 - As lawmakers are preparing to write the next farm bill, they're strapped for the cash they need to cover a long list of demands. One source of money is to require farmers to update their crop base acreage, which determines what they receive in commodity payments, but the idea would face significant political challenges.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2017 - University of Illinois experts say lawmakers should consider using the next farm bill to lift restrictions that may discourage farmers from planting cover crops to reduce soil erosion.