03/17/08 House ag leader looking at baseline farm bill option

Farm and Ranch March 17, 2008 House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fed up with the Senate and Administration for the farm bill hold up and if there is not a deal by April 18th there will be a reversion to permanent law. That April date is the expiration of another extension of the 2002 Farm Bill, which the President signed last week. However, rather than revert to the permanent law of 1949, Peterson says the House will move forward with a baseline bill. That means no new money. Peterson; "The Commodity Title will be what is in the House passed farm bill. So it will have the loan rate increase. It will have all the provisions we had in the House bill. It will not have beneficial interest. Long and the short it will basically be an extension of the current law for farmers, with the exception that we will raise the loan rate and target prices on soybeans, barley, wheat, canola, sunflowers and a couple other things and raise it a small rate on sugar." Peterson says those areas depending on new money, like fruits and vegetables and conservation will be cut by an equal percentage. Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin doesn't think a baseline bill meets obligations but suggested a baseline bill might only be for two or three years. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.