Harkin's latest

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin briefed reporters for a short 14-minute teleconference today. He revealed he expects to receive about $9 billion from the Senate Finance Committee, of which about $4-5 billion will be used over five years for a permanent disaster program. Harkin said he hopes to start markup of the Ag committee's farm bill by sometime in the day Thursday, just after the Finance Committee delivers their work. He did not say where the Senate Finance Committee would find the money for the $9 billion or so, and he appeared eager to distance himself from the Senate Finance Committee.

It will be revealing to see where the Finance Committee finds the money for the farm bill. If part of it comes from new tax revenue from the H2A program, as has been leaked, there will be no joy in produce land.

It is unclear how fruit and vegetable priorities will do in the Senate package, but I think it is quite plain that it will be an uphill climb to match the funding and the language in the House bill. Given the controversy over funding offsets, getting the produce industry "on board" this farm bill from the Senate may be no easy task, either.