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Check back from time to time and we add updates as the farm bill progresses now into the Senate and then into the Conference between the House and Senate. June 20, 2008- The Farm Bill has now officially turned into the law of the land. We talked about this journey over the last couple of years with Terry Detrick of American Farmers & Ranchers- and he shares with us several insights into the guts of this law. Click here to listen to our conversation with Terry Detrick. June 5- The US Senate has followed the lead from last month of the US House and voted to resend the whole Farm Bill back through the White House- this time the vote was 77 to 15. There was a time of floor debate for this measure- and that included Tom Coburn- the junior Senator from Oklahoma. Click here to listen to a whole cast of Characters on this situation- including a promise from Secretary Ed Schafer that there will be another Presidential Veto coming on this “complete” farm bill. May 29- It was our first chance since the Farm Bill vote to talk to Senator Tom Coburn who voted against the Farm Bill Conference Report- and his reason- too much of an increase over the budget baseline for nutrition- the Senator saying he had not problem with the Commodity Title of the bill and- and if anything- was disappointed in the reduction of Direct Payments in the final package. Click here to listen to our conversation about that, as well as his report that he asked for on USDA travel expenses. May 23, 2008- Numerous groups have blessed the 2008 Farm Bill now mostly Farm Law- and here are links to comments made by many of those groups: May 22 7:00 PM- The Senate followed the lead of the House and voted to override the veto of the President easily- 82-13. That means that fourteen of the fifteen titles are now the law of the land. The Senate will vote on the full Conference Committee Report after the Memorial Day Recess. There seems to be little concern among Democrats that they have much of a problem and they clearly believe they have the votes to squash any opposition offered by disgruntled Republicans. May 22- The number on the bill has changed but the Conference Committee report on the Farm Bill survived yet another vote in the House by a slightly smaller veto proof count. Bill number 6124 carries in the House 306 to 110- this is the full farm bill- all 15 Titles not a title short as was the veto override of yesterday afternoon. Where this goes from here- there is still likely to be a vote on just Trade Title Three- and there could be a vote on an extension that would take us into early June. This is still a technical issue that is rather fluid- depending on how the lawyers sort things out. This only delays the inevitable- the Farm Bill as passed by the House and Senate becoming law over the objections of President Bush. It does delay the work by USDA to start writing the rules that will implement this bill. Perhaps the one part of the bill that we would like to see details on as soon as possible will be the rules on implementation of COOL. May 22 12 Noon- the situation is fairly UGLY on the floor of the US House- as Republican Leader John Boehner has offered a resolution that is very critical of the Democrats and how they have handled this omission of the Trade Title of the Farm Bill. House Leadership has decided to try to get a fresh vote on the full Conference Committee report of last week- and perhaps will get a vote on just the trade title of the bill as well. There will likely be an extension vote later today as well. It has been very quiet on this situation over in the Senate- they are letting the House dig themselves out. The biggest concern by farm bill proponents is that Republicans will feel compelled to go “party line” which could weaken the ability to get a veto proof margin at least two more times. May 22- The so called “glitch” is serious enough that the Democratic Leadership in the House has cried “uncle” and has decided to reschedule a vote on the Farm Bill Conference Report- first thing Thursday morning(today) And they have also slated a vote on yet another extension. It is probable that the Senate will revote on the farm bill as well- then hopefully the FULL and Complete Farm Bill will be delivered to the White House- sometime late this week or early next. I suspect that they will someone count the Titles this time. What it means is that there will be no Farm Bill turned into law until early June. That will give folks another ten days or longer to actually read the darn thing before a final vote happens assuming the President vetoes it one more time- a fairly safe assumption. Colin Peterson will be on the House floor around 9:15 AM central to explain it all to you and that can be seen on C-Span. May 21-Houston, we have a problem! The glitches just do not stop- even as Leadership is on the verge of a veto victory. Somehow, they lost the Trade Title of the Congressionally passed farm bill between the Conference Committee vote and getting it to the White House. The White House apparently vetoed the bill minus the Trade Title and now the House has JUST overriden the veto by a 316 to 108 margin. We expect the Senate to override easily as well- but the question is what the devil do they do about Title Three- the Trade title??? May15- 8 PM- Groups have lined up left and right to praise Congress for finally getting things done- one Commodity group leader that we talked to on Thursday afternoon was the President of the American Farmers & Ranchers- Ray Wulf- who is glad to finally have a plan in place(or close to it)- Click here to listen to Ron and Ray Wulf talk about the successful votes to take this farm bill beyond a veto May 15 12 NOON- Turn out the lights- the party’s over!!! The Senate entertained the Fat Lady who sang as the final vote on the Farm Bill Conference Report was held with a final tally of 81 to 15- the Conference Report passes with a massive majority in both bodies- heads to the White House where the President may still veto as his sign of a protest against the measure- but it appears that if he does- it will be an easy override. The National Farmers Union has issued a news release trumpeting the House and Senate vote- saying that the President should read the tea leaves and understand that a veto is the wrong thing to do. Read more by clicking here. May 15- 7:00 AM When the Senate votes later today on the 2008 Farm Bill Conference Report- they may have as many as 80 votes in favor of the measure- another Veto Busting number! As we look back to yesterday’s vote, fellow broadcaster Stewart Doan that is now working the Washington scene regularly for Agri-Pulse heard the same thing that we heard during the floor debate from Speaker Nancy Pelosi- she will push for reforms that will make this 2008 package look like a major increase in the Commodity Title- she has no use for anything that is helpful to farmers and ranchers. Listen to Stewart’s wrap on the floor action of yesterday. We do know that Senator Jim Inhofe will vote in favor of the Farm Bill Conference Report when that votes comes up later today. Here are the preliminary comments offered by Senator Inhofe’s staff on this measure: “This important legislation is long overdue. It has been given many extensions and now it is time to provide our farmers with the assurance of these vital programs,” says Senator Inhofe. “The passage of this Farm Bill will ensure that Oklahoma continues to be a leader in America’s agriculture production.” Senator Inhofe pushed for provisions that are included in the bill that will benefit Oklahoma’s farmers, including transitional assistance to encourage development of biofuels and including language supporting grant proposals to find innovative ways to make use of animal waste, specifically poultry waste. Senator Inhofe’s office will release a full report of the bill’s impact for Oklahoma’s farmers upon the final passage. May 15- A MAJOR NO-SHOW!!! One House member that was not on the floor of the House yesterday during the farm bill debate and who did not speak was Congressman Jerry Moran of the Big First District of Kansas. Moran voted NO on the Conference Report. May 14- 7 PM- USDA has released their statement on the House passed Conference Report on the 2008 Farm Bill- here’s the link from the USDA website. It is VERY CLEAR that President Bush will veto the bill- and see which Republicans remain against the White House on this one. May 14- 3:15 PM- It was a VETO BUSTING Vote- the House APPROVES the Farm Bill Conference Report by a huge 318 to 106 vote. To be veto proof- the supporters of the bill had to have 290 votes- so unless the President can change a lot of minds- a veto may be pointless. May 14 8:30 AM- We expect the debate on the Farm Bill to begin around 9:30 AM Cengtral time and can be seen on C-Span. The Ag Leadership believes it will all be over by 1:00 PM Central as they have scheduled a live webcast that will be accessable from the House Ag Committee Website- click here to go there. The only question mark about today’s vote is- will it be large enough to suggest an override to the probable Presidential veto? May 13 8:00 PM- Things are moving fast now that they have the final CBO score. It appears that the CBO scored the measure at $12.9 billion over baseline- which is $2.9 billion more than agreed to in the House and Senate. The Senate doesn’t care and will take it as is- and it is our understanding that the Rules Committee has approved a leadership move to suspend PAYGO rules and will rush to a vote before anyone can read the fine print- that debate and a up or down vote on the Conference to follow starting at 9:15 AM central time. We talked this afternoon with Congressman Frank Lucas- Oklahoma’s man on the House Ag Committee- and while he would not admit that he will likely vote for the bill- well- you listen to our conversation and decide what he will do- we thought at 5:00 PM that it would be in the afternoon- now apparently it will be Wednesday morning. May 13- 2:00 PM- The National Farmers Union has organized a strong effort to move Congress over to a strong enough yes vote that it can be veto proof. They have sent letters to both the House and Senate urging a vote for the 2008 Farm Bill- and Tom Buis and company have come up with 557 groups to sign both letters. Here is the link to the House letter- complete with a listing of the groups- over half of those groups are signed on because of the nutrition money that this bill will shovel out. May 13- 11:00 AM- We are in Washington today and will have the chance to visit with Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas late today- MEANWHILE, we have just received word from the House Ag Committee that the Conference Report Language is now been posted on the House Ag Committee website- here is the link! House Ag Committee staffers report that the bill will be filed in the House today. May 12 4:00 PM- The National Association of Wheat Growers have decided to advocate a “yes” vote on the 2008 Farm Bill. We spent time with Daren Coppock- the Executive Director of NAWG in his Washington office this afternoon- and we have the audio for you to take a listen to- Click here to listen to Ron and Daren on the Farm Bill 2008 May 11- We continue to wait on details of the CBO score as well as Report Language which some folks have demanded to see before they make their mind up in regards to this 2008 Farm Bill deal. One economist that has his mind made up is from the University of Central Oklahoma- and he is calling for a tillage operation on this measure- The Editorial is in the Edmond, Oklahoma Sun- “Plow the Farm Bill Down” (click and read) May 9- Howdy Neighbors- the chips are beginning to fall- The Ag Leadership that were a part of the “insiders” who have assembled the bill declared their great love for the deal in a news conference on Thursday. At the same time, we have others on the Conference that were not a part of the insiders who are withholding judgment for now. In checking with Nicole Scott of Congressman Lucas’ staff- she is his ag aide- the CBO score on the “deal” should be out on Saturday- with Committee staffers hoping to have a Conference Report to Committee members late in the weekend- and Congressman Lucas will withhold judgment of the deal until he reviews the details. Here are links to some of the statements that have been offered by various lawmakers and the committees. May 8- We have a Deal!!! That’s the word from the Conference Committee Chairman, Senator Tom Harkin- he and the other Principals will tell the world what is in the details they have assembled on this Thursday at 12:30 PM central time- they are waiting on a final Score from CBO on the cost of the bill- and the Veto threat still hangs over the bill as well. May 6 10:00 PM- Lots of Closed Door Meetings were part of the landscape today in Washington- we talked to quite a few folks while in Washington this afternoon including Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas who is the number two Republican on the Farm Bill Conference Committee on the House side- but he has been shut out of the process by and large here in 2008- after taking a leading role in Conservation issues in 2002. You can click here to listen to Ron and Congressman Lucas talk about the farm bill status as of about 4 :00 PM this afternoon. Senator Tom Harkin has apparently declared there will be no more public meetings- when they finally get a deal- they will shop it around to all the Conferees and ask them to sign it without a lot of knowledge of the details. Will that happen this week- they still have about eight issues that have to be solved- little was apparently closed out today- the Principals will meet again tomorrow around 1:00 PM eastern time. May 6 4 AM- We are headed to Washington today- to be a part of a Cross Species Emergency Preparedness Media Briefing on Wednesday. While in Washington this afternoon- we hope to catch up with a few of the key players on the farm bill front. Meanwhile, the calls for a veto by the President continue to echo around the country- Predictably, the Daily Oklahoman believes the bill should get the ax by President Bush and here is a link to their Editorial from today’s paper. May 5, 2008- 8 PM- It has been a quiet day in the farm bill circles- as the Conferees wait on a CBO score. We do understand that a closed door meeting occurred this evening in Longworth House Building among the House Republicans- as Ranking Minority member Bob Goodlatte is hoping to get his Republican colleagues on board to stand against a Presidential veto if one occurs. The Principals (House and Senate Ag Leadership) will meet tomorrow at some point- and we have heard from three different directions that there very possibly will NOT be another public meeting of the Conference Committee- they are too messy and allow folks to say things that Leadership does not like. Instead, we expect an effort- if the the Principals can solve the rest of the sticking points- about eight of them- they will walk the Conference Report around to the members and they will be asked to vote on it by signing off with their approval. NOBODY yet knows where the final bill may land in areas like the adjusted gross income test for farm supports, prohibition of privatization of food stamps, beneficial interest and more. May 2- 6 AM- We laid down for a few minutes- but now are back up to process through some of the thoughts of last night- here is the conversation that we had with Third District Congressman Frank Lucas right after the end of the Conference Committee marathon session that went to about 12:15 AM Central time. Congressman Lucas was unhappy with the outcome of the votes on Direct Payments and Crop Insurance- but kinda expected it-as Peterson and Pelosi held their troops in line and those votes were straight party line votes- Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. We asked for and got the thoughts of Terry Detrick of American Farmers & Ranchers who was in the room last night thru early this morning for the marathon session- Here’s Terry’s take on the 6 and half hour meeting:
May 1- 11:00 PM Central- It’s High Midnight in Washington- and as the bell tolls- they are now working on the Commodity Title- it clearly appears that the “Principals” are bound and determined to run this entire measure by the Conferees and squash as much opposition as possible. Congressman Jerry Moran is now presenting his amendment to restore Direct Payments to their full 2002 Farm Law levels- cutting countercyclical and loan rates to pay for this restoration of $313 million to Direct Payments. Here are the arguments advanced by Jerry Moran in the Conference Committee. May 1- 10:50 PM- All but one item has been agreed to in the Nutrition Title- the House supported a measure to outlaw privatization of food stamps- while the Senate voted not to go along with that item- which Kent Conrad pointed out that President Bush had promised to veto a farm bill with this measure within it. Harkin opted to go against the measure which he supports because he fears the veto. May 1- 9:15 PM- It’s never too late in the evening for Senator Charles Grassley to rail against the evil meat packers. The Conference Committee took up the Livestock Title and the one outstanding issue was the Packer Ban on Livestock Ownership. The measure never made it past the Senate Conferees- it was pretty much just the two Senators from Iowa that wanted this measure- we have the audio link of Charles Grassley ranting for the measure- and the most eloquent argument against the Packer Ban came from Kansas Senator Pat Roberts- and we have his comments linked here. May 1- 8 PM Central- The Conference Committee has now agreed to the following Titles within the 2008 Farm Bill. Those titles include the Research Title, Forestry, SPecialty Crops, Crop Insurance, Energy, Rural Development (with one controversial items moved intact to the Commodity Title) and they are nearing completion on the Conservation Title- Title II. It appears the “Princiapls” are holding together on all of these issues- so the Republican leadership is making sure all Democratic initiatives have safe passage. We had heard they might continue for about another hour or so this evening. May 1- 6:45 PM- The Crop Insurance title has been finished by the Conferees- and the “Insiders” prevailed in their plan to move up the required payment date for the crop insurance premium by three months- a gimmick that gives them more than a billion dollars in “savings.” The House Republicans offered a substitute idea that would change permanent disaster that the Senate covets- providing money not only for Crop Insurance but also monies for restoring the Direct Payment. This amendment was offered by Congressman Randy Neugebauer of Texas- Here is how he explains it. May 1 5:30 PM- The Conference Committee meeting has begun- and could go well into the night! May 1- 4:00 PM- Well- we thought MAYBE this was it- but now the meeting that was supposed to start at 4 PM Central is delayed- per the Senate Ag Committee Website. one of our contacts says that the Principals want to jam the whole deal through to conclusion TONIGHT!!! Here is the link to the Senate Ag Committee page where you can click on a link to listen live- IF IF IF IT HAPPENS May 13 PM- Earlier today, the House of Representatives and the Senate each passed by unanimous consent, S. 2954, a bill to temporarily extend farm programs through May 16, 2008. There is NO word if the White House will sign or not.
May 1- 11:00 AM- A spokeslady for Republican Bob Goodlatte confirms that he met yesterday evening with President Bush and talked about the farm bill being developed. The spokeslady says that the President expressed some concerns- but still called it a good meeting. May 1- 10:00 AM- Here are two pieces of audio that we want to share with you that give different perspectives on the current farm bill saga. The first comes from Wednesday as Senator Tom Harkin explains what he says is currently in the package- subject to some “minor” tweaks according to the Senator. April 29 8 PM- A deal is brewing!!! It looks like the Bush Administration may have forced Congress to give them much of what they have been demanding in order to avoid a Presidential veto. The Senators are being closed lipped over exactly was is happening- but it appears that they are admitting they have given a lot to the White House tonight. April 29 10:00 AM President Bush is feeling his oats in a news conference with reporters- and he called out the Congress on several issues- including what he called a “bloated” farm bill that will help keep food prices high. Clearly, he has no fear of vetoing a farm bill if he thinks the reform measures are not adequate. A veto is very possible at this point. April 29- 4 AM- There is now a time set for a Conference Committee Meeting later today- it will be happening at 1:30 PM central time. We have an audio preview of today’s Conference Committee Meeting and a review of where we are in this overall process- featuring audio with Mary Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Click here and listen to Mary Kay’s insight on where we stand as we approach what could be the endgame of this farm bill process. One comment that we heard from Mary Kay that we did not include in this audio summary- the fact that she believes there is only about a thirty percent chance that President Bush would veto the Farm Bill developing on Capitol Hill now that the funding issue seems to be mostly behind us. April 28- The White House is still talking about the proposed farm bill that the Senate and House have apparently put together as one that does not have enough reform in it- and the President’s spokesman continues to talk VETO- Click here to read more April 26- A “deal” has been announced by Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin but no details have been provided by either the House or Senate Ag Committees. Here is the Statement offered by Harkin as he announced the deal- note that he still says that while a deal is done- it is subject to figuring out the specifics and the funding- which sounds like there is still considerable room for things to grind to a halt or go backwards: According to the Committee websites- there was to be a Conference Committee Meeting late Monday - BUT THAT HAS NOW been moved to Tuesday morning- time and location to be determined. We understand that one or more members from the House side could not make it on Monday so Senator Harkin agreed to the postponement. April 24- 3 PM- A One Week Extension has been granted by the House and the Senate to the Farm Bill Conference Committee- as they continue to hope that the Tax writing Committees will be able to finish their work in another few days. Promises were once again made that progress is being made- with apparently some of the tax credits that the Senate is demanding now covered by a tentative deal. The extension passed today will go to May 2- assuming the President Bush signs the short term extension again. April 23- 3:00 PM- It does NOT appear like there will be any Conference Committee meeting today as evidently there is nothing positive to report from the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee on finding the “payfors” for the items that come in some ten billion dollars above the budget baseline. The Senate Ag Committee has published a brief recap of what was okayed yesterday afternoon regarding Crop Insurance and Specialty Crops- Click here to review that. April 22- 5:00 PM- The Conference Committee Session lasted a little less than an hour- and no sign of a breakthrough on funding seems to be there- in fact Senator Harkin said he sees the likely need for yet another short term extension. He was then handed the statement by the President which he saw for the first time in the Conference Committee- and he promptly dismissed the veto threat said that the President had not said specifically he would block another short term extension. After the close of the Session- we talked with Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas and we have a link to our conversation by clicking here. April 22- 3:30 PM- The White House Seems to be saying that the Farm Bill negotiations have failed- and are now calling on Congress to extend the 2002 Farm Law by one year or more. Click here to read the President’s Full statement released just moments ago. April 22- The Next Conference Committee Meeting is apparently set for Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 PM Central Time on the House side of Capitol Hill. Senator Tom Harkin has vowed to start calling for votes if a full fledged “deal” is not done over funding and how that impacts everything else is in place. The Senate has offered a deal to the House which includes quite a few of their most prized tax credits- click here to go to the Senate proposal from the end of this last week. April 19- A couple of tidbits for you from the last few days- on Friday, we had another Conference Committee Meeting that decided nothing. There were some sharp exchanges between those who want MORE money for nutrition at the expense of the Commodity Title and those who were willing to step up and defend farm price supports. One that was doing some of the defending of the latter was Congressman Frank Lucas- and here is his take on the whole question of money for feeding programs versus price supports to assure food gets grown.
April 18- 7:30 AM- We have just got off the phone with Congressman Frank Lucas talking farm bill negotiations- it’s all about the Democrats fighting among themselves over spending priorities and over how many more dollars they can extricate from the Commodity Title. Click here to listen to Ron and Congressman Lucas on the latest from Washington on the Farm Bill Saga April 18- 6:30 AM- we have word from Washington that there will be a Conference Committee Meeting at 9:00 AM Central time this morning- maybe a deal is getting closer. We also have word this morning that President Bush will sign the Farm Bill Extension that takes us through next Friday- April 25.- Click here for the Bloomberg coverage of that. April 18- 4 AM- While there are claims that the factions in this farm bill debate are “closer” to agreement- it sure seems like the latest demands by the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have pushed both sides further apart. Ms. Pelosi has apparently decided we need MORE money for nutrition- and wants farmers to pay for that with a billion dollar cut in direct payments. She also wants a much smaller permanent disaster program than has been most recently offered by the Senate. Here is a link to the Jerry Hagstrom version of events up through late last night- as reported in Congress Daily- Click to read. Meanwhile Francie Tolle with American Farmers & Ranchers has been in Washington all week watching the process and she has these thoughts for us after yesterday’s undercurrent of events- Congress is sending a one week extension to the President and it will be interesting to see if he will sign off, if he doesn’t we all know what that means – permanent law kicks in. The House is not in session tomorrow so any longer extension would have to wait until Congress is back next week – and the farm bill expires tomorrow. Today included numerous meetings behind closed doors, no one knows exactly what happened, but with a canceled conference meeting I would say it’s safe to say no deals were made. The main sticking point is the $2.5 billion tax package. Yesterday Senator Baucus made it very clear the tax package was NOT dead, he said it may be less than the $2.5 billion, but the Senate needed the tax package to be part of the farm bill in order to have the votes they needed. Even more disappointing is to hear the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Bush say they do not want increases in spending for the farm bill because there are other more urgent priorities. I really can’t imagine anything more important than supporting the producers that provide our nations safest, most abundant and yes - still the cheapest food supply. April 17 10 PM- The Farm Bill being worked on in the Conference Committee seems to be on life support- and perhaps may be close to dead! Speaker Nancy Pelosi has apparently decided that there has to be more cuts to farm programs to benefit nutrition- and she has demanded a billion dollars more in nutrition aid- wants to cut direct payments by that level- and also come in with a much smaller permanent disaster aid program than proposed by the Senate. Click here for a story that sums up where we stand late on this Thursday evening. April 16- The Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Colin Peterson has asked the House for another week to work on the Farm Bill- and he has received a third temporary extension of the 2002 farm law-here’s an audio report on the details as provided on the House floor by Mr. Peterson. April 14, 2008- For the second time, the House-Senate Conference Committee met on this Monday- this time on the Senate side and while there is agreement on a lot of the farm policy issues- money is still a problem, according to Francie Tolle of American Farmers & Ranchers, who offers us her thoughts from this meeting of earlier today- she and AFR Vice President Terry Detrick were on hand during the afternoon session: “The stumbling block is still the financing. It’s a very complicated situation with 5 different groups involved: 1) the House Ag Committee, 2) the Senate Ag Committee, 3) the House Ways and Means Committee 4) the Senate Finance Committee, and 5) the President with veto power. Never before have the agriculture committees been held hostage by so many other powers, some from committees that know nothing about agriculture.
April 12, 2008- We now have the counteroffer from the Senate Ag Conferees- which basically just goes back to what the Senate had come up with earlier- it’s ten billion dollars over the budget baseline for a ten year period- here is the news release and at the bottom of the release, the details are linked- check it out. Almost immediately, the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Colin Peterson, offered a “at first glance” response- “The Senate’s Farm Bill counter-offer today affirms the House position on the core Farm Bill policies and shows how close we are to an agreement on those issues but also demonstrates that there is still work to do on financing the bill and other extraneous issues. April 11, 2008- OSU Ag Policy Professor says Congress has earned a failing grade in the current farm bill debate- saying we are looking at a “failed process.” Click here to listen to Ron and Mike talk about the current farm bill debate. April 10, 2008- The Conference Committee for the Farm Bill has met for the first time and is likely done until next Monday or Tuesday. We have two audio links to offer you- the first is the comments made by by Colin Peterson with an explanation of the “framework” offered by the House members to the Senate- click here to take a listen to Mr. Peterson. April 10, 2008- The House Conferees have now been named by House Leadership - and they include Oklahoma Republican Congressman Frank Lucas of the Third District. The First Conference Committee Meeting is set for Thursday morning at 9:15 AM Central Time. Democratic Leaders from both the House and Senate met last night- and the House is now pushing for a six billion dollar over budget baseline deal- that the Senate is rejecting. The Funding Deal is still NOT done. Here is the News Release from the House Ag Committee as issued by the Majority April 1 10:30 AM- More from Washington as we have heard from Tara Smith of the American Farm Bureau Office, who seems optimistic that we could get a farm bill breakthrough at almost any time. She talked to the Oklahoma Farm Bureau this morning and we talked with her right after...Click here to listen to our conversation with Tara Smith. The OFB Group also heard from Dale Moore, Chief of Staff for pretty much the entire Bush Administration, and after this comments we teamed up with Sam Moore to chat with the Kansas native. April 1, 2008- As we report from our Nation’s Capitol on this first of April- NO FOOLING- we had the chance to visit with several folks here from the two groups that we are following- Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. We have our conversation with Mike Spradling of the OFB linked here- click to listen- about the some 75 member of the organization that have come to Washington this spring and the issues they are interested in. We also sat down and talked farm bill with Colin Woodall of the NCBA’s Washington office- who has a less than rosy outlook on the fate of the farm bill negotiations. Click here to listen to our recorded conversation with Colin as the Spring Legislative Conference of the NCBA kicks off. President Bush has issued a statement on the extension of the 2002 farm law that has passed the House and Senate this week- saying he will sign this one- but after that “If a final agreement is not reached by April 18, I call on Congress to extend current law for at least one year. While long-term extension of current law is not the desired outcome, I believe the government has a responsibility to provide America's farmers and ranchers with a timely and predictable farm program -- not multiple short-term extensions of current law. Without a predictable policy, agriculture producers will be unable to make sound business decisions with respect to this year's crop.” Click here for the full statement just released by the White House. March 13, 2008- Yesterday- the House passed a second one month extension to the 2002 Farm Law- the Senate had done so the day before and this lets farm bill negotiators off the hook for another thirty days until April 18. Congress will leave Washington at the end of the week for a two week recess- and the chances of having enough details for the Staffs of the Ag Committees to make progress over the Easter Recess is rather bleak. Here is the audio of Colin Peterson and Bob Goodlatte asking for the Extension- with Goodlatte promising that we will need to go with a different direction if we don’t get a framework deal before Congress leaves town. March 1- As the Farm Bill countdown to the current “deadline” marches closer to March 15- Secretary Schafer seemed upbeat in Nashville about the chances of getting a farm bill done and signed into law by President Bush- Here’s a wrapup of his comments for you to listen to from the Commodity Classic in Nashville. Click and listen to Ron and the Secretary. February 29- We talked Friday afternoon in Nashville at the Commodity Classic with NAWG CEO Daren Coppock about mostly farm bill issues- and he tells us that the expected Funding Deal for the 2007-2008 Farm Bill has not been wrapped up as Senator Harkin expected on this final day of the month. Click here to listen to our full conversation with Daren about where we are in this standoff from a wheat perspective. February 19- There still is no deal done in the farm bill negotiations but Colin Peterson remains hopeful that a bill can be finished by mid March- we have details on that from NAFB national correspondent Stewart Doan- click and listen. February 15- Another day- and we have another proposal thrown up on the wall- to see if it has any stickiness to it...this time it’s the Senate- and here’s the news release of what Senator Harkin has come up with...Click here to read. February 14- DEVELOPING- Some 44 ag groups have drafted a letter to the House and Senate Ag Leadership expressing appreciation to Colin Peterson and Bob Goodlatte on trying to move the farm bill process forward- but expressing concern that the Commodity Title is being left high and dry. The letter states that the ag groups consider the proposal as “seriously underfunding” the Commodity Title that has taken major hits already. the Ag groups go on to say that the White House continues to insist on policy positions that were already considered and rejected by both the House and Senate Ag Committees and are policies that are unacceptable to Production Agriculture. They also say that current good prices should not be used as an excuse to justify weakening the farm safety net of the future. More details to come... Several groups have released their individual ideas about the Peterson Plan- the American Soybean Association is very unhappy- calling the framework “unilateral surrender” to the White House demands- Read all about it February 13- 7:00 PM: Chairman Colin Peterson has released the letter on his farm bill framework that has been sent to the Senate Ag Committee- here’s the link to that letter. February 13-- 4:30 pm- We now have a statement by Ed Schafer and Chuck Conner of USDA on the Framework efforts of Colin Peterson and Bob Goodlatte- they conclude that this framework is a good thing and is headed in the right direction to achieve a farm bill deal that the President can sign. Click here to read the full statement February 13- 2 pm- Here is the opening statements of both Colin Peterson and Bob Goodlatte about what they are trying to do to get the farm bill process moved forward. Peterson claims that the key is to get a number above the budget baseline that the House, Senate and White House can agree upon- and then a farm bill can be written. His proposal that is causing waves right now is based on a budget baseline six billion above the current farm law. Click here to listen to Peterson and Goodlatte defend the direction they are headed as Peterson claims he just wants to get a farm bill that at the end of the day- will be passed and signed by the President. We re hearing that several Senators are livid over the plan- saying that Peterson is giving away the store. More to come on what other lawmakers are thinking. February 13- Colin Peterson has dumped what the House and Senate have done on the farm bill- and has come up with a fresh framework that would result in a ten year farm bill that would tighten the “means test” for farm program payments and would actually eliminate direct payments in year nine of the ten year bill for one year. Peterson and Goodlatte will talk to reporters about it later today- we have been told that Peterson and Goodlatte are in lock step on this concept- they have been working with the White House but not the Senate to develop this plan. Click here to read one of several articles out there on the proposal. February 6- President Bush participated in a ceremonial swearing in of Ag Secretary Ed Schafer at USDA on Wednesday morning and he continues to demand Congress bend to his specs on the farm bill or face a veto- here is what the President had to say- click here to listen! February 5- We now have Senate Farm Bill Conferees- here’s the list and details from the Committee News Release. February 1- Another week is gone and NO CONFEREES yet. We do have an audio update on Senator Tom Harkin unhappy that the White House is holding tough on what they want in a House-Senate Conference Report on the farm bill. Click here to hear this update with correspondent Stewart Doan. January 31- The former chairman of the House Ag Committee, Larry Combest, told rice producers earlier this week that we are watching a game of high stakes poker as House Ag Committee Chairman Colin Peterson has proclaimed his love for the 1949 Permanent Law if whatever bill that the Congress puts together as a conference report is sent to the President and is vetoed- Peterson saying that’s what the Administration gets if they veto the farm bill- Click to listen to Combest’s comments on where we stand as we draw closer to the final showdown in this farm policy standoff. January 28- From this past Friday- NFU President Tom Buis says that we need new farm policy passed by COngress and signed into law by the President. But- he feels that if we can’t get that done- he sees NO WAY that an Extension can be passed- and that leaves us with Permanent Law- and he says that is something they have considered and that NFU has decied that they can live with for a time. Click here to listen to our audio overview of the Tom Buis conversation with the media. January 23 9 pm- We talked earlier this afternoon with Oklahoma Republican Congressman Frank Lucas about where we stand on the farm bill debate- and his thoughts on getting a new farm law versus permanent law versus a one or two year extension of the 2002 farm law. Click Here and take a listen to our audio overview with Congressman Lucas. January 22- The Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Colin Peterson, says that he can live with Permanent Law (the 1949 Law) if the Bush Administration refuses to give any ground on their demands of what they want in a farm bill and President Bush vetoes the Congressional final product. He talked with reporters about how he has come to this point and we have an audio overview of what Colin Peterson told reporters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, what happens if the 2002 farm law is allowed to totally expire and no new measure is there to take its place? The 1949 Permanent Law kicks in and the Congressional Research Service has done some “what if” on that taking place. Click here for the summary of what they see as happening. January 8, 2008- The National Association of Wheat Growers had a strategic planning meeting this past weekend in Dallas- and while this was not their primary topic of discussion- they did get an update from their Washington staff on where we stand in resolving differences between the Senate and House versions of the Farm Bill. Immediate Past President of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers, Jeff Krehbiel of Hydro, tells us there is growing concern that Colin Peterson and Tom Harkin would like to lock themselves in a room and write the farm bill themselves. We have an audio overview and what Jeff heard while in Dallas- click here to listen. I might add that there will not be any closed door meetings this week between Peterson and Harkin- as the Senator is junketing in Africa- examining child labor issues related to cocoa production in West Africa. December 14 5:00 pm- Here are the links to what several groups think about the Senate passed farm bill December 14 4:30 pm- Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner thinks the Senate Farm Bill passed today is a lump of coal in his Christmas stocking. He says it lacks reform, has budget gimmicks and is miserably short of the Income Test on AGI that the Administration has been demanding. Here is what the Secretary said this afternoon about what the Administration has to have to consider signing a final piece of the legislation. December 14- 3:15 pm: The Senate has passed their version of farm policy on a very strong 79 to 14 vote. Several lawmkers offered their thoughts on the floor after passage- including the two managers of the bill- Tom Harkin and Saxby Chambliss- here is an audio overview of those thoughts and comments December 14- Howdy Neighbors and Good Morning! Will this be the day that we get a farm bill done in the Senate??? Maybe- we will watch and keep you in the know. Meanwhile, click here to listen to some comments with Oklahoma’s man on the House Ag Committee, Frank Lucas, as we talked with him on Thursday about the need for a short term farm bill extension of the 2002 law to keep the pot of money from evaporating December 13- 9:00 PM Central- Cloture is invoked by a vote of 78-12. There can now be a maximum of 30 hours of debate before a final vote. December 13 8:05 pm- Majority Leader threw in the towel on getting a labor measure piggybacked onto the farm bill and called on the Senate to wrap up the 2007 Farm Bill debate. If fact- he called on the Senate to hold a cloture vote to bring the debate to a close- with a likely final vote on the measure to come Friday morning. The cloture vote is on as we type this. December 13- 5:45 pm- Here are the comments from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as he announced that there is one amendment that is a problem child in getting the farm bill done- a measure on firefighters- he told members of the Senate- “we have had enough of the farm bill.” He hopes to get a final vote yet TOMORROW- Listen to what Senator Reid had to say- he was definitely tired and frustrated December 13- 5:30 PM- We have had multiple votes this afternoon on the Senate Farm Bill- and none of the amendments were accepted- the National Association of Wheat Growers quickly issued the following statement after the votes around 4 pm. “The grower members of the National Association of Wheat Growers thank the many Senators who voted against a series of unfriendly amendments to the 2007 Farm Bill on the floor Thursday. The most potentially devastating amendments included the Dorgan-Grassley payment limits amendment, the Klobuchar adjusted gross income amendment and the Brown-Sununu crop insurance amendment. All three were defeated Thursday. “I am extremely pleased that so many Senators recognized the importance of a stable and predicable safety net and a strong crop insurance program for our producers,” said NAWG President John Thaemert. “We look forward to the Senate’s swift passage of a strong farm bill.” December 13- 10:30 am. The Payment Limits Vote fell just four votes short of passage this morning with a 56-43 vote- 60 was needed because of objections of several lawmakers. Debate continues on several amendments this morning and we expect a series of votes at some point after lunch. There continues to talk of getting done today- or at least by noon tomorrow. We shall see. December 13-5:00 am Central- Good Morning! We are expecting a vote on the Payment Limits Amendment of Dorgan-Grassley at around 8:15 AM this morning- it’s an early morning vote for the Senate so that the Democratic Presidential hopefuls can vote and get out out town to campaign. As we mentioned last night- it looks like the supporters of the more onerous payment limits will fall short by four or five votes. to get to the super majority of 60 needed to win. December 12- 8:30 pm- Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn apparently has won one and withdrawn one when it comes to the amendments to the 2007 Farm Bill- we detail how the Good Doctor handled things in this audio update. The amendment that was accepted was a prohibition on farm program payments to dead farmers-while the second amendment called for EQIP payments to be made only to people who get most of their income from production agriculture. December 12- 6:30 pm- The Senate continues to work on the 2007 Farm Bill- and it appears that while there is some whining on the part of Senators Dorgan and Grassley- their Hard Payments Cap Amendment will be defeated. The reason- objections that have been raised will force a 60 vote super majority for it to be added to the underlying bill. We are hearing that Grassley has about 55 votes lined up- so the Conference Committee apparently will not have to deal with that issue. One of the southern Senators that spoke against the measure is Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas- Click to listen! Senator Harry Reid of Nevada- the Majority Leader- is expressing the hope that the Farm Bill might be done tomorrow. Apparently the Dorgan-Grassley bill will be voted on first thing- to be followed by a Cloture Vote on the Energy Bill and then later int he day- they plan on getting back to the Farm Bill. There will be debate on the Tester Amendment that Cattlemen are concerned about tomorrow- that’s the measure that deals with the Packer and Stockyards Act. December 11- 6pm: The first vote on a farm bill debate has now been recorded on the floor of the Senate- and those who support what you might call the status quo are breathing a little easier as the “Fresh” amendment offered by former Senate Ag Committee Chair Richard Lugar of Indiana failed 37 to 58. Click here for an audio overview of the debate. NO other votes were taken on Tuesday- the hope is that Wednesday will be a day with many more votes. One measure was brought forward as one of the Democrat’s 20 measures- an amendment that would have liberalized farm trade with Cuba- and it was introduced and then withdrawn. December 9, 2007- The Senate will work on farm policy on Monday- but no votes will be allowed until Tuesday. In the meantime, we talked about farm policy, biotech and more with the Secretary of the National Association of Wheat Growers, Jerry McReynolds of Kansas. He was a speaker at the Oklahoma Wheat Growers annual meeting -and you can click here to take a listen. Pearl Harbor Day- December 7- the Day that lives in Infamy! And it may be a day in 2007 that we finally see the US Senate begin real floor debate on the the Farm Bill as there is a 20/20 deal cut by the Dems and the GOP. It’s all a part of the Christmas season according to one Washington watcher posting in the Crypt’s Blog- click here for the story- the note on the farm bill is the fifth paragraph down. December 6- A Cloture vote is again on the agenda for Friday in the US Senate with little chance of swaying enough Republicans to come over to Harry Reid’s side on how to pick and choose Amendments for the Farm Bill floor debate and vote. The Illinois Farm Bureau has an excellent audio wrap from stringer Matt Kaye in Washington on the the mess the Senate finds themselves in- click and listen. December 5- We continue to wait on word of a deal between the leadership on which amendments they will bless for a farm bill debate on the Senate floor- we are hearing that could occur next week- the week of December 10. This week, former House Ag Committee Chairman Larry Combest of Texas talked to the USA Rice gathering in Florida and gave some of his thoughts about the developing scenario that we now face in getting a farm bill turned into law. Click here to take a listen. December 3- We are now hearing that the stalled out Farm Bill may sit this week and not see any action until next week at the earliest. Instead, the focus is on the House and a possible Energy Bill deal- the hope by leadership is that the Energy Bill will move- be out of the House by midweek and be worked on by the Senate by the end of the week. MEANWHILE- farm groups- including all of the major commodities (Wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton and grain sorghum) have written yet another letter- calling on lawmakers to not end up opting out and eying a Farm Law Extension instead of the 2007 Farm Bill- here is a link to that letter!!! November 17-It’s up to the Democratic leadership to pick up the pieces of a failed cloture vote on Friday in Washington- as they fell five votes short- and that even included the four Democratic Senators running for President coming back to NOT anger Senator Harkin as he searched for those elusive 60 votes to end the standoff over how many amendments should be allowed on the 2007 Farm Bill on the Senate floor. Harkin pledges to target five or six Republicans over the Thanksgiving recess to get 60 and have a successful cloture vote in early December. (click on the link above to read about Harkin demanding thos |