U.S.
Congress has given its final approval to a sweeping farm bill that trims food stamps for the poor, expands federal crop insurance and ends direct payments to farmers.
Ending years of political battles, the Senate voted Tuesday 68-32, sending the measure to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it.
"Today, in a strong bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate came together to pass a comprehensive Farm Bill," Obama said in a statement Tuesday.
"This bill provides certainty to America's farmers and ranchers, and contains a variety of commonsense reforms ... including reforming and eliminating direct farm subsidies and providing assistance to farmers when they need it most."
Obama said the bill will support conservation, spur the development of renewable energy and incentivize Americans to eat healthier.
Last week the House of Representatives passed the legislation by a wide margin.
The bill was more than a year overdue after congressional negotiations got bogged down on a host of issues, including the size of cuts to the food stamp program.
The bill provides a financial cushion for farmers who face unpredictable weather and market conditions. But the bulk of its nearly $100 billion-a-year cost is for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, which provides funds to about 47 million low-income people to buy food.
About $8 billion in savings over 10 years comes from cuts to food stamps, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of the bill's spending.
House Republicans had hoped to trim the bill's costs, but conservatives were eventually outnumbered as the Democrat-controlled Senate, the White House and a bipartisan coalition of farm-state lawmakers supported it.
The legislation cuts the food stamp program by about 1 percent. The Republican-controlled House had pushed for five times that amount.
The Congressional Budget Office says the $956 billion legislation will save $16.6 billion over 10 years compared to current funding.
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