PRESIDENT RELEASES FY2011 BUDGET REQUEST, PROPOSES CUTS TO FARM SAFETY NET

News Date February 02, 2010

On February 1, 2010, President Obama released a $3.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2011.  The proposal is a recommended level of spending and revenue for the coming fiscal year, and is utilized as a platform to set forth the key policy initiatives of the White House.  Preparing the President's budget is certainly no easy task, especially with unemployment hovering around 10 percent nationwide and the federal deficit near $1.6 trillion, which consequently represents the largest percentage of the GDP, 10.6%, since World War II. 

Once again, USDA is looking at significant cuts, with a total reduction of over $1 billion in discretionary budget authority.  Below is a list of the key priorities for the White House as laid out in their budget documents, along with a number of their recommended cuts for the agency:  

 

  • $34.5 million in discretionary spending, which is double the current level, for the Foreign Market Development Program. 

 

  • $7.6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

 

  • $10 billion over 10 years for a Child Nutrition and WIC reauthorization.

 

  • $50 million for a new “Healthy Food Financing Initiative” to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved communities.

 

  • $429 million - the highest funding level ever - for competitive grants through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.

 Recommended Cuts

 

  • Proposes reducing the cap on Direct Payments by 25 percent, and reducing each of the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) commodity payment eligibility limits for farm and non-farm income by $250,000 over three years.  

 

  • Proposes to reduce the Market Access Program by 20 percent.

 

  • Through the Standard Reinsurance Agreement, USDA assumes reduced costs leading to $8 billion in savings over ten years.

 

  • Eliminate cotton and peanut storage payments.

 

  • Eliminate the USDA Health Care Services grants program; proposes to support health care services in rural areas through HHS programs.

 

  • Eliminate the Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program.

 

  • Proposes no new funding for USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS).  Also, the budget proposes the cancellation of $75.5 million in existing balances from previously approved facility construction funding,

For more information on the President’s FY2011 Budget, including further analysis, official budget documents, and more, please visit NASDA’s FY2011 Budget and Appropriations Resources page.  (Contact: Farm Policy Staff)