Farm Bill deal doesn't mean passage will come soon

Senate leaders agreed Thursday night on how to handle the Farm Bill, "but that won't necessarily translate into a quick Senate vote on the measure," report Peter Shinn and Tom Steever of Brownfield Network. "A new farm law could still be months away."

The deal calls for 20 amendments from each party, many more than had been suggested. "As the Senate begins taking up individual amendments, regional, rather than partisan interests, are expected to drive the debate," Brownfield reports. "For example, one of the amendments Senators will debate would impose a $250,000 hard cap on farm program payments. The amendment is co-sponsored by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan, both long-time champions of tighter payment limits, and both from states were such limits are popular. But payment limits are not popular in the South, where cotton and rice growers, who tend to be larger than Midwest corn, soybean and wheat farmers, argue their capital intensive crop production practices necessitate a generous safety net."

American Farm Bureau Federation lobbyist Mary Kay Thatcher told Brownfield that she expects the Senate to pass the bill before Christmas, but "I still think you're betting more on March, maybe April," before it can get through a House-Senate conference committee and avoid a veto from President Bush, whose administration has called the bill too expensive.