WICHITA, Kansas, May 15, 2008 – The U.S. Senate passes the farm bill Thursday 81 to 15.

Wednesday, the bill passed the House 318 to 106 with enough votes to easily override a threatened presidential veto. But House members representing central and western Kansas voted no. They say much needed farm programs were sacrificed for pet projects in other states.

Scott Van Allen has been farming for 34 years and never needed crop insurance until last year when an Easter freeze wiped out his wheat crop.

"Without the crop insurance we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be standing here this year and I think probably 95% of the county would be that way,” Van Allen said.

Yet the current farm bill would cut $6 billion in crop insurance. It also reduces direct payments to farmers over the next three years by $300 million. Opponents of the bill say those payments provide a safety net for farmers if commodity prices drop, yet expenses like fuel and fertilizer remain high.

"If the markets come down and they are very vulnerable as everybody knows in this country, the expenses do not, that's where we have some big problems making it work on the farm in the future,” said KSN agriculture analyst Larry Steckline.

For those reasons, Congressman Todd Tiahrt voted against the bill saying the farm bill “leaves our farmers in the dust.”

Congressman Jerry Moran also voted against it pointing out that 74 percent of the $290 billion bill goes for food stamps and nutrition programs. That’s an $11 billion increase.

“The word farm is no longer in the title of this bill,” Moran said. “It's not the farm bill. The reality is we're down to 11 percent of the bill is the commodity title of the farm bill.”

But those in favor of the bill say farm income is up and the farm bill’s original purpose to stabilize the farm economy is out of date.

"American farmers are receiving excessive subsidies and payments, direct payments from the federal government,” said Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana.

But Kansas farmers like Van Allen argue he’s not asking for a handout, just enough help that one bad year won’t put him out of business.

"I don't want a guarantee,” said Van Allen. “I'm not asking for a guarantee. I would like the help when disaster strikes and when disaster strikes to me is low crop prices or disastrous weather.”

Kansas Senators Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts both voted for the measure.