Farm lobbyists: Farm bill still on track
January 07, 2014 | 11:22 PM
The farm bill conference report is still on track to go to mark up on Thursday and Friday, farm lobbyists told The Hagstrom Report today, as congressional leaders continued to express positive sentiments about prospects for the bill.
“I think Thursday conference is still a REAL possibility,” one key farm bill lobbyist emailed The Hagstrom Report.
Another lobbyist said she was impressed by how unwilling committee and personal offices staffs are to reveal details of the bill. When she emailed a personal office agriculture specialist, the lobbyist said, the aide answered one question and ignored another. The lobbyist said, however, that she is convinced congressional aides are reading a full draft of the conference report, even though a few issues have not been settled.
If the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees hold a conference meeting on Thursday and Friday, the 41 conferees are expected to vote on issues such as whether to change country-of-origin labeling for red meat, the 2008 farm bill provision governing implementation of the Packers and Stockyards Act, and the amendment sponsored by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, that would forbid states from banning the sale of food from other states due to objections about production methods.
A vote on final approval to send the bill to the House and Senate floors is also expected.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told reporters she was feeling optimistic about finishing the bill, Politico reported. “We’re just tying up loose ends. Feeling very good about things” Stabenow said.
“We just have to get through that conference committee, get the report signed,” Stabenow told reporters. “There’s a desire to get this done by everybody.”
“Sen. Stabenow thinks that sometime this week the conference could be completed. I hope that’s the case,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters Tuesday, according to CQ Roll Call.
On the cotton program, the only substantive remaining question is whether the federal marketing loans for cotton growers will be set at 45 cents or 47 cents a pound, said Joe Outlaw, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, who is working with congressional staff on the cotton portion of the farm bill, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
“I think Thursday conference is still a REAL possibility,” one key farm bill lobbyist emailed The Hagstrom Report.
Another lobbyist said she was impressed by how unwilling committee and personal offices staffs are to reveal details of the bill. When she emailed a personal office agriculture specialist, the lobbyist said, the aide answered one question and ignored another. The lobbyist said, however, that she is convinced congressional aides are reading a full draft of the conference report, even though a few issues have not been settled.
If the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees hold a conference meeting on Thursday and Friday, the 41 conferees are expected to vote on issues such as whether to change country-of-origin labeling for red meat, the 2008 farm bill provision governing implementation of the Packers and Stockyards Act, and the amendment sponsored by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, that would forbid states from banning the sale of food from other states due to objections about production methods.
A vote on final approval to send the bill to the House and Senate floors is also expected.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told reporters she was feeling optimistic about finishing the bill, Politico reported. “We’re just tying up loose ends. Feeling very good about things” Stabenow said.
“We just have to get through that conference committee, get the report signed,” Stabenow told reporters. “There’s a desire to get this done by everybody.”
“Sen. Stabenow thinks that sometime this week the conference could be completed. I hope that’s the case,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters Tuesday, according to CQ Roll Call.
On the cotton program, the only substantive remaining question is whether the federal marketing loans for cotton growers will be set at 45 cents or 47 cents a pound, said Joe Outlaw, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, who is working with congressional staff on the cotton portion of the farm bill, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
- Politico — Debbie Stabenow ‘feeling very good’ about farm bill
- Roll Call — Farm bill nearing home stretch
- The Wall Street Journal — Cotton farmers not changing plans despite farm bill uncertainty
