Posted October 22, 2013
U.S. Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
are optimistic that Congress will pass a farm bill late in October, but both
anticipate a heavy political debate, according to an article by the Mankato
Free Press available here.
Walz said he expects the bipartisan nature of the farm
bill and the need for Congress to show it can work properly after the federal
government shutdown to ensure a “grand bargain.” Walz said “I think it is appropriate that the
first big thing we work on together (after the shutdown) is a bipartisan law
like the Farm Bill.” Walz said he is
focusing on legislation in the bill for conservation programs and energy
programs such as biofuels.
Klobuchar said she hopes to keep the bill close to the
Senate version passed last spring. The
Senate version contains only $4 billion in nutrition program cuts as opposed to
the $40 billion in cuts recently passed by the House.
The Hill reports that the $1 trillion farm bill will
“serve as the first test of how deeply the shutdown fight has damaged relations
in Washington.” The Hill article is
available here. Leaders of the Congressional agriculture
committees are eager to finish the bill, which “could get wrapped into a
year-end budget deal that replaces the automatic sequestration cuts.”
Finding common ground over the huge difference in
funding allocated for nutrition programs will be a biggest hurdle during the
conference. Subsidy portions of the bill
also have major differences – some say the biggest problem in the commodity
title being the difference in how the House and Senate calculate target price
subsidies.
Another major issue is that the House bill makes the
2013 farm bill the default permanent law.
Agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation
oppose this measure. Currently, if a
farm bill is not passed every five years, the 1949 farm bill automatically
takes effect. This generally forces
Congress to update and revise farm programs.
Other provisions at issue include means testing for
crop insurance in the Senate bill and a House provision that prevents states
from banning the sale of products based on a method of production (a measure
aimed at state bans on eggs produced by hens in battery cages).
For more information on farm bills, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
