03/17/08 Just extend the deadline again

The Congress failed to get a farm bill to the President by last Saturday's deadline. So they did what they've done many times, they extended the deadline to April 18th or else farm programs would have reverted back to 1949 levels. SMITH "There's a lot of frustration in the House and the Senate, with the ag organizations and I think it's probably leaking over into the countryside." American Farm Bureau's Tara Smith says the country needs a farm bill sooner rather than later. SMITH "But that said if it takes an extra month to get a farm bill that provides a good safety net for farmers we'd rather a good farm bill by April 18th than a bad farm bill by March 15th." But the new deadline doesn't give the House and Senate negotiators much time. They're on a recess for the next two weeks and that only leaves a couple of weeks to solve major issues such as how to pay for the farm bill. SMITH "The finding issue is the hold up right now and today but be very clear there are a lot of policy issues that are going to have to be dealt with." President Bush went along with the April 18th extension but urged Congress to give him a bill to his liking. Bush says if a final deal isn't reach by next month's deadline he'll ask Congress to extend the current law for at least one more year. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott