House GOP leaders are readying a one-year extension of farm and nutrition programs that includes disaster aid for drought-affected farmers, lawmakers said Thursday.

Following passage by the U.S. House and Senata, President Obama recently signed off on H.R. 4348, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). The bill includes reauthorization of surface transportation programs, an extension of reduced student loan rates and a reauthorization of the flood insurance program.

With drought affecting more than half of the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has named more than 1,000 counties in 26 states as natural-disaster areas, the largest such declaration ever.

Peri & Sons, a Nevada-based onion grower, has agreed to pay a record total of $2.3 million in back wages to 1,365 workers, along with a civil penalty of $500,000 for violations under the H-2A program.

Today, the House Agriculture Committee approved its version of the farm bill by a vote of 35 to 11. The bill would reduce spending by $35 billion over 10 years, mainly by cutting about $16.5 billion from the food stamps program.