WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate Finance Committee has allocated $5 billion for farmers affected by weather-related losses over the next five years.
The Agricultural Disaster Trust Fund, financed by tighter tax rules on U.S. businesses, is part of a nearly $14 billion tax incentive program designed for rural conservation programs, bioenergy development and farmers who are just getting started, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The package comes in addition to the existing farm subsidy program.
The disaster trust's top proponent, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said "an awful lot of people around this country are going to benefit" from the program.
Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the fund would be a more efficient alternative to the current system, which allocates payments as part of annual spending bills.
The committee also approved measures that target tax-avoidance techniques used by the country's businesses to help offset the costs of the program.
