Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has appeared before Kentucky's most influential farm group to explain his vote against the Senate's version of a new farm bill.
The five-term Republican told the Kentucky Farm Bureau's annual meeting Saturday that the legislation to shape farm policy had basically become a food stamp bill.
McConnell voiced support for broader work requirements for many recipients.
McConnell, who faces a tough re-election campaign in 2014, said he hopes to support a compromise farm bill. The House passed a bill that would cut food stamps by $4 billion annually.
The Senate's bill would cut a tenth of that amount.