The United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry reports that the U.S. Senate has “cleared a procedural hurdle today and voted to proceed to consideration of the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 . . . , with strong bipartisan support on a vote of 90-8.”

For the full U.S. Senate Press Release, click here.

According to the press release:

“This bill represents commonsense and responsible reforms that will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars while strengthening key initiatives that will allow our economy to continue growing and creating jobs,” Chairwoman Stabenow said. “This bill has garnered widespread praise from hundreds of farm, food and conservation organizations for its common sense reforms, deficit reduction, and investments in our economic future. The 2008 Farm Bill is set to expire at the end of September – we must pass this commonsense bill immediately to give farmers the certainty they need to continue growing the economy. Sixteen million American jobs rely on agriculture. The time for reform is now.”

“We’ve performed our duty to taxpayers by cutting deficit spending while at the same time strengthening and preserving the programs so important to agriculture and rural America,” Ranking Member Roberts said. “We’ve cut mandatory spending by $23.6 billion. We’ve reformed, eliminated and streamlined USDA programs to the tune of more than 100 programs and authorizations eliminated. We’ve done it on a voluntary basis and in a bipartisan fashion. Simply put, this bill is commonsense reform and needs to be approved now to provide certainty for our farmers and ranchers to make planning decisions and to help our economic recovery.”

For additional information and press releases regarding the 2012 Farm Bill, please visit the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry here.  For another excellent resource for comprehensive daily updates on the Farm Bill process in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and elsewhere, please visit farmpolicy.com.