Congressman Bill Owens (D-Plattsburgh) Thursday voted against a modified version of the Farm Bill introduced by the Republican majority Wednesday night.

The bill that was introduced was a radical departure from the decades-long practice of presenting Farm Bills that contained both farm subsidies and provisions for Food Stamps.

The leadership in the House had threatened to split off the nutrition programs from the bill to deal with them separately, and Wednesday night they did. The previous versions of the bill in the House and Senate had both cut the SNAP, or Food Stamp program by differing amounts.

The bill passed by a vote of 216-208 in the House Thursday, without the nutrition programs as part of the bill.

“Farmers who were counting on Congress to give them five years of certainty will not find it in this bill now or in the future,” Owens said. “The bill House Leadership brought to the floor today breaks with decades of bipartisan compromise and a longstanding alliance between the farm and nutrition communities that benefits all Americans.”

More than 530 groups representing the farm, conservation, credit, rural development and forestry industries from across the nation urged Speaker of the House John Boehner to keep the 2013 Farm Bill intact.

“House leadership instead chose to ignore the pleas of those most affected by this critically important legislation and removed the nutrition title from the bill, making it nearly impossible to conference with the Senate on a comprehensive reauthorization of farm and nutrition programs,” said a statement from Owen’s office.

H.R. 2642 also contains a provision repealing permanent 1949 farm law, which is normally suspended for the life of a new Farm Bill. This suspension is the policy mechanism that forces both parties to the table to negotiate on the Farm Bill every five years. This provision was not included in the bipartisan bills reported out of either the House or Senate Agriculture Committees. The repeal was added last night and its full ramifications are unknown.

Owens expressed concern about the repeal of the permanent law. “As a practical matter, the threat of reverting to permanent law seems to be the only thing left to force Congress to reauthorize farm programs,” Owens said. “Dividing the Farm Bill into two parts sets a dangerous precedent. This legislation is too important for farmers, New York’s economy, consumers, and the millions of vulnerable seniors, children, and veterans who rely on the SNAP program. They deserve a comprehensive solution, which is long overdue.”

Owens has repeatedly called for both parties to compromise on the Farm Bill and has supported reasonable cuts to the SNAP program while continuing to provide certainty for New York’s agriculture industry.