The U.S. Senate passed a budget bill late last week designed to give American pulse growers access to larger subsidies.
Peas, lentils and small chickpeas were included in the 2002 U.S. farm bill, but the loan rates that the United States Department of Agriculture established for those crops were not what Congress had intended.
Rates were set for the top grades of the three pulse crops instead of for No. 3 lentils and chickpeas and feed grade peas, which is what Congress had asked for.
Amendments put forward by the senate in new legislation fixes that problem.
Adjusting the pulse crop loan rates will add an estimated $50 million to the farm bill’s budget over the next 10 years, giving U.S. pulse growers access to another $5 million in potential subsidies every year.
Changes must be approved by the House of Representatives and the president before they are implemented.
