More news on the upcoming Farm Bill. This is likely to be a big part of agricultural news the next few months.
As the U.S. Congress works to write a five-year farm subsidy law, the Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture committees said they intend to meet weekly to reduce any discrepancies between their respective legislation.
The House chairman, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, described the plan during a Reuters interview on Tuesday. The Senate chairman, Tom Harkin of Iowa, confirmed the goal on Wednesday. Weekly meetings would represent an unusually high level of communication for committee leaders.
“The more we can talk things through, the easier it will be,” said Peterson, to reach final agreement on the farm bill. ”We’re both on the same time frame. We want to get this done by September.”
Neither expected the committees will write identical bills. But frequent discussions will reduce the chance of unexpected obstacles, they said. Peterson said top staff workers also would be part of the meetings. Written every few years, a farm bill is panoramic legislation covering crop subsidy, land stewardship, export promotion, agricultural research, rural economic development and public nutrition programs that cost tens of billions of dollars annually. The 2002 farm law expires this fall.