Posted October 3, 2013
 
Twenty senators including Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), stating that they will not support a farm bill extension that includes direct payments, according to Hagstrom Report and reported by AGree here.
 
In the letter dated September 27, the senators wrote, “With the fate of the farm bill still uncertain, we urge that any farm bill extension brought to the floor ensure the full and immediate elimination of direct payments.”  Noting that the direct payments program was established in 1996 as a temporary measure, the senators stated that both the House and Senate farm bills end the direct payments program.  The senators stated that an extension which continues direct payments “would represent a costly regression in light of the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan efforts to eliminate this multibillion dollar subsidy.”
 
While discussing the farm bill at a United Fresh Produce Association Conference, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee confirmed that “about 20 Senate colleagues have said they would not support a regular farm bill extension that continues direct payments,” according to an article by The Packer, available here.

 

Sen. Stabenow hopes Congress will pass a new five-year farm bill once the government shutdown ends. 

For more information on farm bills, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
 
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