The Farm Bill is more than six months behind schedule, and after another deadline extension and another veto threat from the Bush administration, an end date is not certain. As April rolls on, the delays are affecting farmers and their spring planting decisions, reports Charles Slat of The Monroe (Mich.) Evening News. "Knowing which crops will be subsidized and which won't helps farmers figure out what to plant each year," Slat writes. "Not knowing the extent of subsidies in a new farm bill doesn't help much at all. And there are no clear signs when a final bill might be passed."
The delays are important because farmers must "provide certification of the crops they're planting and the number of acres cultivated" to receive subsidy payments, Slat writes. As time goes on, the window for planting and certification closes. "Very shortly, they're going to be wanting to get into these fields and start planting," Paul Manol, county executive director for the federal Farm Service Agency office in Monroe, told Slat. "At that point, it will be a burden for them to come into this office and certify their acreage. I have a funny feeling this office is going to be swamped. I'm thinking of bringing a cot in here, to tell you the truth, because that's how much I think I'm going to be here." (Read more)
The writing of the Farm Bill has taken 13 months so far, and Reuters has produced a timeline that charts the lengthy process from its beginnings at Farm Bill forums in July 2007 to April's meetings between House and Senate negotiators.
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