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As Congress navigates its way through the 2012 Farm Bill process, Food & Water Watch today released a report that delineates the special interest lobbying efforts that shaped the 2008 Farm Bill. Food & Water Watch estimates that $173.5 million was spent by agribusinesses, commodity groups, food manufacturers and others to perpetuate policies that favor the largest food and agriculture industries. The public demand for broad-based reforms to the food system has been largely stymied by the special interest lobbying muscle that spent more than $500,000 a day during the 110th Congress.

The report, Cultivating Influence: 2008 The Farm Bill Lobbying Frenzy, finds that the 2008 Farm Bill was one of the most well-financed legislative fights of the past decade and breaks down the lobbying spending by more than 1,000 companies, trade associations and other groups.

“The public outcry for a healthier, more equitable food system has been muffled by the gusher of cash that special interests spent lobbying to shore up the Farm Bill status quo,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “As Congress lurches towards finalizing the 2012 Farm Bill under budgetary austerity, the lobbying juggernaut has only intensified.”

The sprawling legislation drew a host of legislative interests beyond agriculture including petrochemical companies and Wall Street as well as advocates for nutrition programs and international food aid. Other firms secured special tax giveaways or USDA funding in the 2008 Farm Bill-like the $180 million tax break for Weyerhaeuser or $126 million tax break for race horse industry.