Farm Bill passes House with the support of most Democrats and farm groups, in face of veto threat

"The House of Representatives passed its version of the farm bill Friday by a vote of 231 to 191," reports Brownfield Network. "The vote was closer than it otherwise would have been because of the funding mechanism used to pay for additional spending on nutrition and other programs included in the farm bill. Democrats decided to end a tax exemption for foreign companies that employ U.S. workers, describing the move as 'closing a tax loophole,' and many Republicans balked, characterizing the move as a 'tax increase'."

Most agricultire and commodity groups, including the more liberal or populist National Farmers Union, supported the bill. The 19 Republicans who backed included Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska, who told Brownfield he did do "in large measure, because his constituents wanted him to," Peter Shinn reports for Brownfield.

But as Smith acknowledged, "Chances are, the farm bill will end up quite different than how it stands right now." Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin said Friday afternoon that the House bill "did serious damage to conservation," which he promised to correct. And Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said at the National Press Club that the House bill is unacceptable. (Read more) For an analysis from Washington by Michael Smith for the Council of State Governments, click here.

The bill "devotes more money to conservation, renewable energy, nutrition and specialty crop programs than in the past but leaves in place - and in some cases increases - subsidies to producers of major crops such as corn and soybeans at a time of record-high prices," reports Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The Associated Press. "It reflected a delicate straddle for Democrats writing their first farm bill in a decade, who struggled to balance the needs of first-term, farm-state lawmakers against the demands of liberals seeking more money for environmental and nutrition programs." The bill would stop payments for multiple businesses owned by the same farmers.

The bill "includes requirements for country of origin labeling on meat. It curtails payments to farmers with incomes over $1 million," down from the current $2.5 million, reports the Daily Yonder, which has a story about "the revolution in national farming attitude and allegiances that's taken place below all the skirmishes on the surface." It also has the map above, from the Agriculture Department, one snapshot of the geographic distribution of farm subsidies.