Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R, IN-3rd) have introduced a farm bill that they say would save $40 billion and includes the Dairy Security Act of 2011 as introduced in the House by Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Mike Simpson (R-ID).

“We offer our bill as a thoughtful option for consideration by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, as well as the Congressional Deficit Reduction ‘Super’ Committee charged with making real federal spending cuts by the end of the year,” Lugar said of the bill they have entitled “The Rural Economic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger Act” or REFRESH.

The bill allows the current dairy price support programs (the dairy price support program (DPPSP) and the milk income loss contract (MILC)) to expire and “creates a voluntary margin protection program that would operate as a form of insurance.”

The bill would would also reform farm programs, update conservation programs and close nutrition program eligibility loopholes. In reforming farm programs, it would end direct payments to farmers, counter-cyclical payments, the ACRE program and marketing assistance/loan deficiency payments.

“Long before I came to Washington, I’ve opposed the direct payments that handcuff farmers and manipulate markets. Today, I’m happy to introduce legislation with Senator Lugar that ends those direct payments. After talking with Hoosier farmers, we’ve proposed genuine safety nets—options that give confidence and expand opportunities for farmers, not outdated systems that restrict their options,” Stutzman said.

Read details of the bill.