At least 600 companies, trade groups and other organizations spent $500 million on lobbying that included the 2014 farm bill or related legislation. It appeared all that lobbying paid off. By Robert Holly and Pam Dempsey/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting After two years of debate, Congress passed a farm bill this year that replaced direct subsidies to farmers with an ever-increasing multibillion-dollar federal crop-insurance program. read more