Every five years, Congress takes up the sprawling farm bill, a laden piece of legislation that impacts millions of Americans nationwide and has broad ramifications for agricultural and other policy.
Many Louisianans are anxiously awaiting congressional action.
The state's more than 400 sugar farmers are at the top of the list. Since 1981, the bill has provided a number of supports to Louisiana's two-century-old sugar industry through subsidies, price-floors and loans that protect local farmers from inexpensive imported sugar.