Maybe we've finally got a deal•

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I'm becoming quite the skeptic in farm bill negotiations. The wolf has cried too many times in the never-ending saga we call farm bill writing. So many I've almost lost count. So often that when I saw the reports start to roll in about a "funding agreement" made in ongoing negotiations, I brushed them off as nothing. Well, it turns out we may have finally made some headway on getting a final bill passed.

Late Friday House and Senate farm bill negotiators agreed to broad parameters of the bill. A statement from Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin said "that the core farm bill utilizing the $10 billion above baseline has been worked out among key farm bill negotiators. Specific details and funding will still have to be worked out and are all subject to ratification by the full conference committee."

In a nutshell here's what we know so far.

The disaster package remains. It's been pared back a bit, down to $3.8 billion, from the previous $4 billion.

Conservation funding, mostly in Harkin's prized Conservation Stewardship Program (previously Conservation Security Program), got a $1.1 billion boost.

The controversial Senate tax package, objected by the House leadership, was originally $7.5 billion in the Senate's first version. In negotiations it got stripped down to $2.5 billion in tax credits and now ranges between $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion.

The biggest provision in the tax package that remains is a 6 cent reduction in the ethanol blenders tax credit from 51 cents to 45 cents, saving over $1 billion. It also boosts a blenders credit for celllulosic ethanol to $1.01, at a cost of approximately $400 million.

The catch is that the ethanol blenders credit won't go into effect until the Environmental Protection Agency administrator certifies that the 7.5 billion gallon mandate has been reached. Once that is certified, then the law goes into effect the January following that certification.

The ethanol import tariff is extended until Dec. 31, 2010, which brings it in-line with the ethanol tax credit expiration.

Some provisions stripped from the $2.5 billion package will be included in a separate "extenders package" introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. This includes tax credit extensions for biodiesel, wind production and R&D.

Direct payments were cut by $400 million. So far, decisions on the payment limitations and adjusted gross income levels have not been finalized. It is expected the bill will scale back payments allowed to "nonfarmers."

The bill also includes an additional $861 million increase for nutrition programs over 10 years. Nearly two-thirds of the entire farm bill is dedicated to nutrition.

Legislators still have an uphill battle ahead. Friday Congress passed and the President signed a one-week extension until May 2. Staffers are not ruling out the possibility that another extension will be needed to move the bill through the system. However, if progress continues in the next few days, a bill could be to the President by May 8.

At this time, it is not certain if the administration will support the bill. Some indicate the administration is questioning whether the House has the votes to overturn a veto if he chooses to do so. He has called for greater reform in the bill and refuses to sign anything that includes tax increases.