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Thursday the Senate Ag Committee approved its version of the Senate farm bill. Senate Majority Leader Reid today said the Senate will start debating the farm bill Nov. 5, "or thereabouts." Although it was touted as reform, it's much of the same with a few minor tweaks in the way programs are done. One change that was approved out of each chamber is a revenue-assurance program. How the program actually works will depend largely on what the conference committee approves. However, it does seem very likely that farmers will at least have the choice of choosing between traditional commodity programs and a revenue option.
Over the next several days I'll take different pieces of the Senate bill and look deeper into each issue. Unlike when the House version came out, the Administration issued a veto threat. Although Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner said he doesn't make the decision on vetoes, he wasn't willing to issue the threat, but many items still remain a concern for the Administration, particularly payment limits.
One change in the Senate bill was changing the Title 1: Commodity title to the "Producer Income Protection title." Maybe this was done to help sell the idea that the price supports in place help protect incomes.
The title continues basic features of the 2002 bill and gives producers a new option beginning in 2010 to participate in the state-level revenue protection system. The House version includes a national revenue approach.
Brief overview of some key items in the Senate version:
The Senate Agriculture Committee has posted its proposal and amendments online at: www.agriculture.senate.gov. You can also view video of the two days of committee debate on the site.
Policy is one of the most important issues facing farmers today, but often the most difficult to digest. Jacqui Fatka has a passion to decode the often difficult world of agricultural policy into terms understandable for today's ag players.
Fatka joined the Farm Progress team as E-Content Editor in August 2003 after graduating from Iowa State University. Prior to full-time employment with Farm Progress, she interned at Wallaces Farmer magazine, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's press office and the Iowa Pork Producers Association and freelanced for National Hog Farmer. She also worked as a public relations consultant with Iowa Industries for the Future, an effort to bring together major players in the biorenewables industry.
Currently Fatka is a staff editor at a sister publication, Feedstuffs. For Farm Futures she regularly tells the story of ongoing agricultural policy changes. Her byline can also be found on management profiles.
Fatka grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Atlantic, Iowa. She currently lives in central Ohio with her husband Eric.
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