If there’s one key number to the fate of the new five-year farm bill deal unveiled Monday night, it’s the roughly $8 billion cut over 10 years to food-stamp funding. Spending on nutrition programs sank an earlier version of the farm bill in the House and is considered the most partisan issue in the 949-page bill.

The new deal finds its food-stamp savings by increasing the level of federal heating assistance required to trigger higher benefits among recipients, according to aides.