Trump’s $4.8 trillion budget plan targets farm subsidies

President Donald Trump unveiled a $4.8 trillion spending blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year that proposes billions more for defense and a U.S. mission to Mars but would cut deeply into other operations including the Environmental Protection Agency.

The proposal, released Monday, is unlikely to get through Congress but does reveal the administration’s policy priorities. It projects economic grown above 3% and would add $5.6 trillion in deficits over 10 years. The 2021 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

After authorizing $28 billion in trade assistance for farmers over the past two years, Trump is targeting farm subsidy programs. He proposes $36 billion in cuts over the next decade to federal funding for crop insurance, conservation and commodity programs.

The budget also continues Trump’s campaign to cut food stamps, which his administration has pursued through regulatory changes such as stricter work requirements. He promises savings through “bold proposals” to tighten eligibility. The budget also reprises past Trump proposals to provide more food assistance through “harvest boxes” of American-grown commodities for beneficiaries.

The budget would cut the U.S. Department of Agriculture discretionary budget by 8% in the 2021 fiscal year and targets entitlement programs such as food stamps and farm subsidies for an $240 billion cutback during the next decade.

The budget also reprises a prior Trump proposal to make it harder for wealthy farmers to receive subsidies. Trump would lower the maximum income for farmers eligible for commodity and conservation subsidies to $500,000 annually from the current $900,000 limit. He would also extend the income limit to subsidized crop insurance, a key farm assistance program.