UPDATE: The Senate Agriculture Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. today, Thursday, April 26, to officially amend and modify its version of the 2012 farm bill. This is the final step before the bill is sent to the Senate floor for a vote, which will send it on to the House.
The Senate Agriculture Committee postponed today's scheduled hearing on its new draft Farm Bill late Tuesday evening after more than 40 Southern commodity groups sent a letter to the committee asking for the delay, reports David Rogers of Politico. The draft proposes an end to direct entitlement payments to farmers, but promises cotton producers a $3 billion income protection program. That has upset peanut and rice producers, who have been allied with cotton growers in opposition to a proposed strong shift from direct payments to crop insurance.
Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said in a statement the committee has made significant progress on the bill, which has much bipartisan Senate support. But Rogers reports Stabenow's change in signals "testifies to the power still of these commodity lobbies," and that she has a vested interest in "finding a solution." Stabenow would be in "much stronger position if she can first hold the farm coalition together" before the bill is brought to the Senate floor for a vote. (Read more)
Senators representing other commodity interests "made demands regarding the baseline impacts on their crops, adding even more fuel to the growing Southern revolt that was building at the 11th hour," Agri-Pulse reports. The Senate is likely trying to move on the Farm Bill to make the House, which usually takes the lead on the bill, take action on it. Agri-Pulse reports some sources say even if Stabenow continues bipartisan momentum for the bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid "has little motivation to move a Farm Bill on the Senate floor until after the House takes action." Agri-Pulse is available by subscription only, but a four-week free trial is here.
The Senate Agriculture Committee postponed today's scheduled hearing on its new draft Farm Bill late Tuesday evening after more than 40 Southern commodity groups sent a letter to the committee asking for the delay, reports David Rogers of Politico. The draft proposes an end to direct entitlement payments to farmers, but promises cotton producers a $3 billion income protection program. That has upset peanut and rice producers, who have been allied with cotton growers in opposition to a proposed strong shift from direct payments to crop insurance.
Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said in a statement the committee has made significant progress on the bill, which has much bipartisan Senate support. But Rogers reports Stabenow's change in signals "testifies to the power still of these commodity lobbies," and that she has a vested interest in "finding a solution." Stabenow would be in "much stronger position if she can first hold the farm coalition together" before the bill is brought to the Senate floor for a vote. (Read more)
Senators representing other commodity interests "made demands regarding the baseline impacts on their crops, adding even more fuel to the growing Southern revolt that was building at the 11th hour," Agri-Pulse reports. The Senate is likely trying to move on the Farm Bill to make the House, which usually takes the lead on the bill, take action on it. Agri-Pulse reports some sources say even if Stabenow continues bipartisan momentum for the bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid "has little motivation to move a Farm Bill on the Senate floor until after the House takes action." Agri-Pulse is available by subscription only, but a four-week free trial is here.
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