A farm bill is awaiting the president's signature. The bill's provisions include crop insurance.

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 reauthorizes crop insurance and conservation programs that farmers rely on during tough times and revises a safety net program that was a “disaster” for dairy farmers under the previous five-year law, according to some local officials.

Known as the farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act also maintains the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Adopted last week by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the bill now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.

Reauthorizing crop insurance is one of the most important provisions in the bill, said Jim Boldy, vice president of the Butler County Farm Bureau and a member of the bureau's state and national legislative committees.

“We've been trying to talk to legislators and tell them why it's important to pass the bill. Crop insurance was one of the major points,” Boldy said. “The farm bureau is very excited it passed.”

A farm bill is passed every five years and Congress was supposed to pass the 2018 bill by June 30, the end of the fiscal year, said Mark O'Neil, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau spokesman.

If the bill wasn't passed before the end of the calendar year, the 1939 farm bill would have gone into effect until Congress passed a new bill, he said.

The 1939 bill does not include crop insurance, O'Neil said.

Crop insurance is needed more than ever because the 2018 rainy growing season took a heavy toll on crops.

“This has been one of the worst weather years for our farmers. It affected planting, growing and harvesting. You need crop insurance. They put in a claim and hopefully get money back to keep them in business,” O'Neil said.

Crop insurance payments to farmers aren't enough to make them profitable.

“It just helps them pay bills and survive bad years,” O'Neil said.

Protection for dairy producersThe bill revises the margin protection program for dairy farmers, which O'Neil called a “disaster” under the previous bill.“It didn't work the way lawmakers thought it was going to work. Farmers put out millions in premiums and got nothing back,” he said.The program offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between milk prices and feed costs falls below a dollar amount set by the producer. The bill reduces the premium costs paid by farmers.“It will allow farmers to buy better protection at lower prices,” O'Neil said.The revisions include refunds of 75 percent of the premiums paid under the old bill for farmers who sign up for the program again and 50 percent refunds for farmers who don't re-enlist, he said.“The new farm bill should provide support for Pennsylvania's struggling dairy farmers through its revamped dairy protection plan, which replaces a program that failed to provide relief to struggling farmers from low milk prices over the past five years,” Rick Ebert, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau president, said in a statement.

More bill benefitsIn addition, the bill includes cost-share programs to help farmers install conservation projects and removes legal barriers for farmers interested in growing and marketing products made from industrial hemp, Ebert said.The bill enhances agricultural trade programs, he said, by streamlining a variety of market promotion initiatives under one program and providing $470 million in additional funding.Ebert said 80 percent of the bill's funding package supports the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides help to millions of low-income people and families across the country.

Political perspectiveRep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, voted in favor of the bill and called it a “tractor load” of good news for rural residents.The bill received bipartisan support passing 87-13 in the Senate and 369-47 in the House.“Rural families in Western Pennsylvania and across our country received a tractor-load of good news from Washington this week,” Kelly said in a statement.“Congress passed a powerful farm bill that will protect our natural resources, develop new trade opportunities, level the playing field for producers, and help millions of Americans access the nutritious foods they need to keep their families healthy,” Kelly said.He said the bill rolls back regulations, streamlines services, eliminates unnecessary programs and increasing efficiency in the programs that work best and serve the most people.Sen. Bob Casey voted for the bill.“I have worked for years to ensure that Pennsylvania farmers, families and rural communities receive the support they need,” Casey said. “I'm pleased that the 2018 Farm Bill includes measures that I have pioneered that work to improve our conservation efforts and also to make sure our seniors are taken care of.”Sen. Pat Toomey voted against the bill.“This Farm Bill is a wasted opportunity to rein in excessive spending and end corporate welfare. It makes no attempt to curb taxpayer-funded handouts or reform the broken sugar program that forces American consumers to pay twice as much for sugar as the rest of the world,” Toomey said. “Further, efforts to establish a reasonable work requirement for adult, able-bodied food stamp recipients with no dependents, were abandoned. American farmers, consumers, and taxpayers deserved better.”