Farm bill progress?

No insider ag lobbyist info to share here, since I've been restricted to email communications this week because of travel. I'm within a stone's throw of the Kremlin right now(figuratively speaking), staying at the grand Hotel Metropol in Moscow as I wind up some interview on fresh produce exports to Russia. But I note that the USDA has issued this statement Wednesday afternoon:

Statement by USDA Secretary Ed Schafer and Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner on Current Farm Bill Negotiations

February 13, 2008

The Administration appreciates the great work of Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte in bringing us this far. The funding limits outlined by the House represent the real reform sought by the Administration. Mr. Peterson and Goodlatte rightfully took the President's concern seriously and the outline was developed in an effort to reach fiscal responsibility. While there is still hard negotiating ahead on a number of items, we are pleased with our progress on budget issues.

The Administration is working hard to identify roughly $6 billion over baseline to be used to fund this package in such a way as to meet Congress' pay-go rules. We will continue to work closely with the conference committee in order to identify such offsets. We are confident this can be done and we can move forward with a good farm bill.

With these reforms and with acceptable offsets for the $6 billion of additional spending, we believe this offer represents a package that is moving in a direction of a bill that the President would sign.

We urge the House and Senate to use this proposal as the framework for a conference agreement. Without action sometime soon, we risk not reaching a final agreement that would provide a long-term safety net for America's farmers and ranchers.



TK: It sounds as if the Administration is being asked to do some of the heavy lifting in terms of finding funding, since their original proposal was over baseline but did not identify where the offsets would come from.


From the office of Sen. Tom Harkin:

“Chairman Peterson and Ranking Member Goodlatte have my thanks for working with their House colleagues to formulate and share their draft farm bill spending outline. This outline is provided as a basis for further collaborative work and negotiation, and that’s the spirit in which it should be received and judged here in the Senate, where we of course have our own perspectives.

“With the remaining time for enacting a new farm bill so short, it is critical that we now move ahead quickly to identify common ground, forge understandings and cooperatively build a joint, bipartisan framework for the new farm bill acceptable to both the Senate and House of Representatives.
“We cannot enact this critically important legislation for which farmers, rural America and our nation are waiting without the help of President Bush. While I commend USDA Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner for all of his hard work and effort, the White House is still withholding the cooperation – particularly on obtaining funding – that we must have to complete a new farm bill. So I urge President Bush to lay aside veto threats and work with us so we can get this job done