By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Friday approved a $286 billion farm bill with an election-year expansion of subsidies for growers and food stamps for the poor.

The bill, passed on a 79-14 vote, expands subsidies for wheat, barley, oat, soybeans and several other crops and creates new grants for vegetable and fruit growers.

By Darwin Danielson

Iowa Senator Tom HarkinThe U.S. Senate approved a 286-billion dollar farm bill Friday that was managed by Iowan Tom Harkin, the chair of the Senate Ag Committee. Harkin, a Democrat, says the bill is a compromise, but still makes important changes.

Federal lawmakers are considering the broadest effort ever to limit what children eat: a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and salty, fatty food in school snack bars, vending machines and à la carte cafeteria lines.