PAGES

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Dairy issue delays Farm Bill; 'an ominous turn'

"House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas conceded Thursday that final action on a farm bill conference report is now likely to slip into late January — a major blow to himself and an ominous turn for the bill itself," David Rogers reports for Politico.

Lucas blamed the delay on a standoff between House Speaker John Boehner and the leader of Democrats on Lucas's committee, Rep. Collin Peterson of  Minnesota, over dairy policy. Both the House and Senate bills have "a new margin insurance initiative for dairy farmers which would include supply management tools to guard against over production," Rogers notes. "Peterson has argued that the supply controls are vital to keep down the cost of the insurance program. But Boehner believes the increased government role amounts to a bridge-too-far in a world of dairy policy which the speaker is already fond of comparing to the former Soviet Union." (Read more)

No comments:

Post a Comment