EAST LANSING, Mich. (Reuters) – In a large barn smelling faintly of horses, President Barack Obama signed the $956 billion farm bill into law on Friday, comparing the five-year law to "a Swiss Army knife" because of the variety of ways it can support jobs in America.

"It multi tasks," Obama said, describing how the law supports not only farmers and ranchers but poor families on food stamps, researchers working on biofuels, and businesses developing and exporting new products from rural America.

Obama signed the bill – which the Congressional Budget Office says will save $16.6 billion over 10 years compared to current funding – at Michigan State University, the oldest land-grant university in the nation. Using a different measure, lawmakers have estimated the savings at $23 billion.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.