The FY2008 agriculture appropriations bill was combined with 10 other appropriations bills into the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 ( P.L. 110-161 ). The consolidated bill passed the House on December 17, 2007, the Senate on December 18, 2007, and was signed by the President on December 26, 2007. The act provides $90.8 billion in total funds for agriculture and related agencies: $18.1 billion in official discretionary appropriations, and $72.7 billion in mandatory funds. The discretionary amount is 1.6% greater than the amount in FY2007 (+$281 million), although "gross" discretionary appropriations actually available to agencies grew 5.3% to $19.5 billion. Mandatory spending decreased about $7 billion overall from FY2007. Mandatory transfers for the farm commodity programs decreased $10 billion because of less need for price-triggered income support, while food stamp benefits rose about $2.2 billion (+4.2%). The act also extends most provisions of the 2002 farm bill until March 15, 2008. The extension is expected to be sufficient for conference negotiations to resolve differences between the House- and Senate-passed farm bills. The farm bill extension states that, unless otherwise excepted, 2002 farm bill provisions shall continue until March 15, 2008. Among the relatively short list of programs that are not extended are the farm commodity programs for the 2008 crop year. 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, USDA spending 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 estimated that its outlays in FY2007 would be $93 billion. Food and nutrition programs comprise the largest mission area with $55 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, with an expected $21 billion (23%) in outlays, is farm and foreign agricultural services. 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 (9% of the total), rural development (3%), research and education programs (3%), marketing and regulatory programs (2%), and food safety (1%). Nearly two-thirds of the outlays for natural resources programs goes to the Forest Service (about $5.4 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" that 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 Services (HHS) and, in the House, the Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC, an independent financial markets 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 at these agencies as medical and drug issues have grown in FDA and non-agricultural futures markets have grown at 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 (sometimes referred to as entitlement 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. The 2002 farm bill—and its expected successor, the 2007/08 farm bill, H.R. 2419 —determine most of the parameters for this mandatory spending. 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 spending is classified as mandatory, which by definition occurs independently 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 and price conditions, and weather patterns ( Figure 3 ). Although these programs have mandatory status, many of these accounts receive funding 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. The Commodity Credit Corporation operates on a line of credit with the Treasury, but receives an annual appropriation to reimburse the Treasury and to maintain its line of credit. 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 (FDA) in the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The FY2008 agriculture appropriations bill was combined with 10 other appropriations bills into the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 ( P.L. 110-161 ). The bill passed the House on December 17, 2007, the Senate on December 18, 2007, and was signed by the President on December 26, 2007 ( Table 2 ). The conference report is available as a committee print, not as a numbered committee report. The agriculture provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act were not controversial. Debate over the bill primarily concerned funding for the war in Iraq. The Consolidated Appropriations Act extends certain provisions of the 2002 farm bill until March 15, 2008 (Division A, Sec. 751). The duration of the extension is expected to be sufficient for conference negotiations to resolve differences between the House- and Senate-passed farm bills. A new farm bill is expected to become effective for the 2008 crop year for most of the supported farm commodities, and for other programs for the remainder of FY2008 and beyond. The extension states that, unless otherwise excepted, 2002 farm bill provisions in effect on September 30, 2007, shall continue until March 15, 2008. Three conservation programs are funded at specific levels (Farmland Protection Program at $97 million/year, Ground and Surface Water Conservation at $60 million/year, and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program at $85 million/year). The dairy and sugar programs are included in the extension. The dairy price support program would have expired December 31 and would have been replaced with costlier support provisions in permanent law. Price support loan programs for wool and mohair also are extended since those crop years begin on January 1. Programs that are not extended include the direct, counter-cyclical, and marketing loan programs for the 2008 crop year for all other supported commodities, peanut storage payments, agricultural management assistance for conservation, community food projects in the food stamp program, the rural broadband program, value-added market development grants, federal procurement of biobased products (2002 farm bill, Sec. 9002), the biodiesel fuel education program (Sec. 9004), and the renewable energy systems program (Sec. 9006). For more information about farm bill extension and expiration, see CRS Report RL34154, Possible Expiration (or Extension) of the 2002 Farm Bill , coordinated by [author name scrubbed]. The House of Representatives passed the FY2008 agriculture appropriations bill ( H.R. 3161 , H.Rept. 110-258 ) on August 2, 2007, by a vote of 237-18, far short of the 435 seats in the House. Many Members of the minority party did not cast votes on final passage of the bill because of a controversy over floor procedures that was separate from the content of the bill. The full Committee on Appropriations reported the bill on July 19, 2007, by voice vote, after subcommittee markup a week earlier on July 12. On the floor, when the bill initially was under an open rule ( H.Res. 581 ), only two amendments were adopted before the bill was pulled from the floor.