Farm bill politics

It takes a minimum of 218 votes for a bill to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, and an analysis of the nation’s major crop-growing regions demonstrates that compiling those votes requires compromise among the various commodity interests.

Out of the 435 congressional districts:

82 intersect the 533 major US corn-producing counties

38 intersect the 148 major US cotton-producing counties

98 intersect the 495 major US spring/winter wheat-producing counties

Total:         218