Posted December 10, 2013
After months of negotiations, farm bill conferees are close to a deal that would clear the way for passing a farm bill in January, according to Kyle Potter of the Forum News Service in an article available here.
Minnesota Representative Collin Peterson, one of four top House and Senate negotiators, said the framework of a farm bill deal could be finished before the House adjourns for the year on Friday, making a full vote possible sometime in January.
Peterson said negotiators have agreed on a major issue — how much to cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as “food stamps.”
The deal would need to be passed by the farm bill’s conference committee before heading to a full vote in the House and Senate.
On November 5, the Obama administration encouraged House and Senate leaders of the agriculture committees to continue working to finish a farm bill, according to an article by AgWeek available here. “Negotiations on Capitol Hill about the farm bill should continue until House and Senate leaders reach agreement on a comprehensive bill. Numerous members of both sides have indicated progress, and the country deserved continued work on this critical legislation,” said Matt Paul, communications director for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) said that finishing a conference report before the House leaves Washington would be “Herculean” but he hoped Congress would not need to approve a one month extension. Lucas said, “If the members known with certainty, if the U.S. Department of Agriculture knows with certainty that a finished product will be on the floor the first few days in January, I think that probably would reassure everyone involved.”
Peterson also told reporters that an agreement had been reached on the dairy title, but did not reveal any details.
For more information on farm bills, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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