FY2017 Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations: In Brief

Summary

The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), except for the Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and—in even-numbered fiscal years—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Agriculture appropriations include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Discretionary amounts, though, are the primary focus during the bill’s development, since mandatory amounts are generally set by authorizing laws such as the farm bill.

The largest discretionary spending items are the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); agricultural research; FDA; rural development; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance programs; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs. The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child nutrition, crop insurance, and the farm commodity and conservation programs paid by the Commodity Credit Corporation.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not yet released an official re-estimate of the President’s budget request and compiled it on the basis of subcommittee jurisdiction, but the discretionary total of accounts in the FY2017 Agriculture appropriations bill is likely to be about $21.77 billion. This would be on par with the FY2016 enacted total (+0.1% on a comparable House-basis amount, or -0.3% on a Senate-basis amount excluding CFTC).

The Administration is requesting funding increases for most agencies in the Agriculture bill. The total of the increases for agencies that would see their discretionary budget authority rise is an increase of $514 million, including $79 million more for agricultural research agencies, $75 million more for USDA administration, $66 million more for rural development, $18 million more for the Farm Service Agency, $16 million more for the Food Safety Inspection Service, $9.5 million more for Conservation Operations, $117 million more for the Food and Nutrition Service, $13 million more for FDA, and $80 million more for CFTC.

The Administration proposes $492 million of reductions in programming or budget authority for some agencies compared to last year to offset some of the requested increases, including $8.2 million less for the Risk Management Agency’s discretionary appropriation, $117 million less for Agricultural Research Service buildings and facilities, and $136 million less for two foreign assistance programs. General provisions and scorekeeping also contribute $209 million of reductions compared to last year, owing to no disaster or supplemental programming and allowing more for mandatory programs that were used to reduce the budget last year.