Democrats Push $3-Billion Farm Bill

U.S. farmers are caught in an “economic disaster” of low prices and crop-killing weather, Senate Democrats said in proposing more than $3 billion in aid for them. Farmer income was forecast to plunge 12% this year, dragged down by a global grain glut, gargantuan meat output and tepid consumer demand. The centerpiece of the Democrats’ plan was providing more generous harvest-time loans to farmers and giving them 15 months, instead of the current nine months, to repay.