Obama signs $950b farm bill

President Barack Obama signed an agriculture bill worth more than $950 billion Friday, saying the rare product of cooperation in Washington was an example of how the gridlocked US political capital should work. Obama travelled to Michigan to highlight the measure, which he compared to a Swiss Army knife because it had so many different functions as it expands US food exports, broadens conservation and safeguards water resources. Obama said the new law did not include everything he would like -- and admitted Republican leaders felt the same way. "But it's a good sign that Democrats and Republicans in Congress were able to come through with this bill, break the cycle of short-sighted, crisis-driven, partisan decision-making and actually get this stuff done," Obama said. Prospects for more significant legislation in Obama's second term seem less bright though, as hopes for comprehensive immigration reform have suffered a setback amid grassroots conservative opposition and Republicans in the House of Representatives are blocking much of the president's agenda, according to a news agency.