Appropriators approve agriculture cuts, target farm subsidies and Brazil

{mosads}The bill cut the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) budget by 11.5 percent, or roughly $285 million, a move that would roll back a string of hard-fought increases that began during the last years of the George W. Bush administration.

An amendment, sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), will further limit FDA’s ability to regulate. It states that FDA regulations can only be implemented if the secretary of Agriculture deems them based on “hard science.”

Its 2012 spending bill also slashes funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). President Obama requested an increase of more than $100 million for the regulatory agency, but House Republicans responded by cutting some $30 million from last year’s spending levels.

In a sign of the unpopularity of farm subsidies, the committee approved an amendment by deficit hawk Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) that would end direct farm payments to applicants with adjusted gross income over $250,000 per year.

Under the 2008 farm bill, applicants with more than $500,000 in adjusted gross income from off-farm sources or $750,000 in on-farm AGI are not eligible for subsidy payments.