From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.President Barack Obama signed a new Farm Bill into law this month.Under the legislation, the federal government will no longer guarantee automatic payments to farmers.Critics say the law replaces the old payment system with new assistance that may violate international trade rules.The law also includes changes in how the United States helps hungry people around the world.The new Farm Bill ended $5 billion a year in automatic payments to farmers. The president said the law sends a message to people who have abused the system."This bill helps to clamp down on loopholes that allowed people to receive benefits year after year whether they were planting crops or not.And it saves taxpayers hard-earned dollars by making sure that we only support farmers when disaster strikes or prices drop," the president said.The new legislation expands programs that protect farmers from bad weather or low crop prices.It raises the lowest price growers will be paid for some crops.And it offers a taxpayer-supported insurance program to farmers, the program guarantees that their wages do not drop much from year to year.
