The annual agriculture appropriations law includes all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (except the Forest Service), plus the Food and Drug Administration and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A continuing resolution ( P.L. 109-383 ) is providing temporary funding for FY2007 through February 15, 2007, at the lower of either the FY2006 level or the House-passed level in H.R. 5384 . The full House passed the FY2007 agriculture appropriations bill on May 23, 2006 ( H.R. 5384 , H.Rept. 109-463 ). The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version on June 22, 2006 ( H.R. 5384 , S.Rept. 109-266 ). The full Senate took up the agriculture appropriations bill on December 5, 2006, to consider a crop disaster amendment; the amendment was defeated by a procedural vote of 56-38. The House-passed bill provides a total of $93.9 billion, $691 million (-0.7%) less than the $94.6 billion Senate-reported bill. In addition, the Senate-reported bill includes $4 billion of emergency agricultural disaster assistance, which does not count against budgetary caps. The House bill has no disaster provisions. The House bill provides $17.8 billion in "net" discretionary appropriations, about $1 billion above FY2006. Because the bills limit certain mandatory programs, the "gross" discretionary amounts are higher. The House's $18.4 billion "gross" discretionary subtotal is 1.5% less than the Senate's, and 0.7% less than in FY2006. For mandatory programs, the House bill includes $76.1 billion, $300 million less than the Senate bill. This would be down nearly $7 billion from FY2006, mostly due to changing economic conditions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) carries out widely varied responsibilities through about 30 separate internal agencies and offices staffed by some 100,000 employees. USDA is responsible for many activities outside of the agriculture budget function. Hence, spending by USDA is not synonymous with farm program spending. Similarly, agriculture appropriations bills are not limited to USDA and include related programs such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but exclude the USDA Forest Service. USDA reports a total appropriation (budget authority) of $98.4 billion for FY2006. Food and nutrition programs comprise the largest mission area with $58.9 billion, or 60% of the total, to support the food stamp program, the nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and child nutrition programs ( Figure 1 ). The second-largest mission area in terms of appropriations is farm and foreign agricultural services, which totaled $24.4 billion (25%) of USDA's FY2006 appropriation. This mission area includes the farm commodity price and income support programs of the Commodity Credit Corporation, certain mandatory conservation and trade programs, crop insurance, farm loans, and foreign food aid programs. Other USDA activities include natural resource and environmental programs (8% of the total), research and education programs (3%), marketing and regulatory programs (3%), and food safety and rural development. Nearly two-thirds of the appropriation for the natural resources mission area goes to the Forest Service (about $5 billion), which is funded through the Interior appropriations bill. The Forest Service, included with natural resources in Figure 1 , is the only USDA agency not funded through the agriculture appropriations bill. USDA defines its programs using "mission areas" which do not always correspond to categories in the agriculture appropriations bill. For example, foreign agricultural assistance programs are a separate title (Title V) in the appropriations bill, but are joined with domestic farm support in USDA's "farm and foreign agriculture" mission area (compare Figure 1 with Figure 2 ). Conversely, USDA has separate mission areas for marketing and regulatory programs, and agricultural research, but both are joined with other domestic farm support programs in Title I (agricultural programs) of the appropriations bill. In addition to the USDA agencies mentioned above, the agriculture appropriations subcommittees have jurisdiction over appropriations for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) and the Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC, an independent regulatory agency). These agencies are included in the agriculture appropriations bill because of their historical connection to food and agricultural markets. However, food and agricultural issues have become less dominant in these agencies as medical and drug issues have grown in FDA and non-agricultural futures have grown in CFTC. Their combined share of the overall agriculture and related agencies appropriations bill is usually less than 2% (see Title VI in Figure 2 ). Mandatory and discretionary spending are treated differently in the budget process. Congress generally controls spending on mandatory programs by setting rules for eligibility, benefit formulas, and other parameters rather than approving specific dollar amounts for these programs each year. Eligibility for mandatory programs is usually written into authorizing law, and any individual or entity that meets the eligibility requirements is entitled to the benefits authorized by the law. Spending for discretionary programs is controlled by annual appropriations acts. The subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees originate bills each year that provide funding to continue current activities as well as any new discretionary programs. Approximately 80% of the total agriculture and related agencies appropriation is classified as mandatory, which by definition occurs outside of annual appropriations ( Table 1 ). The vast majority of USDA's mandatory spending is for the following programs: the food stamp program, most child nutrition programs, the farm commodity price and income support programs (authorized by the 2002 farm bill and various disaster/emergency appropriations), the federal crop insurance program, and various agricultural conservation and trade programs. Mandatory spending is highly variable and driven by program participation rates, economic conditions, and weather patterns ( Figure 3 ). Although these programs have mandatory status, many of these accounts ultimately receive funds in the annual agriculture appropriations act. For example, the food stamp and child nutrition programs are funded by an annual appropriation based on projected spending needs. Supplemental appropriations generally are made if these estimates fall short of required spending. An annual appropriation also is made to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for losses in financing the commodity support programs and the various other programs it finances. The other 20% of the agriculture and related agencies appropriations bill is for discretionary programs. Major discretionary programs include certain conservation programs, most rural development programs, research and education programs, agricultural credit programs, the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), the Public Law (P.L.) 480 international food aid program, meat and poultry inspection, and food marketing and regulatory programs. The agriculture appropriations bill includes all of USDA (except the Forest Service), plus the Food and Drug Administration and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Because the FY2007 fiscal year began before most of the appropriations bills were enacted, including the agriculture appropriations bill, Congress has passed three continuing resolutions to continue funding the government. The first provided temporary funding through November 17, 2006 (Division B of P.L. 109-289 ); the second through December 8, 2006 ( P.L. 109-369 ); and the third through February 15, 2007 ( P.L. 109-383 ). The continuing resolutions are funding federal agencies at the lower of the House-passed, Senate-passed, or FY2006 levels. Since the Senate did not pass the agriculture appropriations bill, agriculture-related agencies are being funded at the lower of either the House-passed or FY2006 levels (see Table 12 at the end of this report). Press statements by Senator Byrd and Representative Obey, Chairmen of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, indicate that the 110 th Congress is expected to consider a joint resolution to fund government agencies for the remainder of FY2007 at FY2006 levels, with some adjustments for certain agencies. The approach is expected to be more streamlined than a regular omnibus appropriations bill, reducing or eliminating earmark language and specific agency instructions, but allowing limited funding adjustments for certain agencies. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported the FY2007 agriculture appropriations bill on June 22, 2006, by a vote of 28-0 ( H.R. 5384 , S.Rept. 109-266 ). Subcommittee markup occurred on June 20, 2006 ( Table 2 ). Given the possibility that the agriculture appropriations bill would come to the Senate floor in November 2006, thirty amendments were submitted for debate, including 14 by Senator Coburn to strike or otherwise affect earmarks. Floor action had been promised in return for Senator Conrad withdrawing a crop disaster amendment from the military construction appropriations bill on November 14. However, other Senators later blocked floor action on the agriculture bill due to fiscal concerns over the disaster amendment. Floor debate on Senator Conrad's disaster amendment occurred on December 5. An attempt to consider the amendment under emergency spending rules was defeated 56-38, and the amendment was ruled out of order. No further consideration of the agriculture appropriations bill occurred. The full House passed its version on May 23, 2006, by a vote of 378-46 ( H.R. 5384 , H.Rept. 109-463 ). On the floor, the House added 17 amendments and stripped three provisions from the bill on points of order. Another 13 amendments were rejected (8 targeting earmarks), and 10 other amendments were withdrawn. The full Committee on Appropriations reported the bill on May 9, 2006, by voice vote, after subcommittee markup on May 3, 2006. The House-passed bill provides a total of $93.9 billion, $691 million (-0.7%) less than the Senate-reported bill.