By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer

A congressional conference committee has agreed on a 6-year farm bill that would decrease payment of some supports to farmers.

The compromise bill agreed to April 26 includes a country-of-origin food labeling provision covering fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and peanuts. The requirement would be voluntary for the first two years and mandatory after that. Opponents of the labeling measure say it could prompt U.S. trading partners to establish requirements that might ban U.S. exports.

The bill also would restore "food stamp" benefits, or consumer food subsidy coupons, for legal immigrants who have lived in the United States at least five years and children of legal immigrants and people with disabilities regardless of the duration of their residency.

The committee released details of the compromise April 30.

The measure must be approved by the House of Representatives and Senate before being sent to President Bush for signature or veto. The House is expected to consider the bill later this week and the Senate within two weeks.

In one compromise, the conferees agreed to lower the cap on the amount of annual subsidies a farmer can receive from the current $460,000 to $360,000. The House bill had proposed a $550,000 cap and the Senate a cap of $275,000. The administration opposes what it terms "trade distorting" subsidies to farmers.

The bill would increase price supports for eight commodities for the first two years and lower the supports for the last four years. Covered are corn, sorghum, barley, oats, wheat, minor oilseeds, rice and cotton. The price support for soybeans would remain unchanged. The bill would establish new supports for peanuts, sugar, wool and mohair, honey, apples, chickpeas, lentils and dry peas.

The bill provides for a $73,500 million limit on new spending on agriculture over the next ten years.

It also includes a provision for a new 3 1/2-year dairy subsidy program and new subsidies for bioenergy -- fuels derived from agricultural products. It includes $2,000 million to support farmers who improve their environmental practices.

The compromise measure would increase to $200 million a year by 2006 spending on the market access program (MAP). The program helps create and expand foreign markets for U.S. agricultural exports. The bill also provides $19 million to help specialty crop exporters and increases to $67 million a program to help export value-added agricultural commodities to emerging markets.

The measure also would authorize spending of $308 million on the Food for Peace program, increasing the amount for transportation and administrative costs and setting a minimum level of commodities to be purchased for food aid.

It would continue through the fiscal year ending September 2003 (fiscal year 03) the Global Food for Education Program. The program sponsors preschool and school feeding programs targeting undernourished children in developing countries, especially girls, and nutrition programs for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children 5-years old and younger.

Most provisions of the current farm bill, passed in 1996, expire in September.