04/07/08 House Ways and Means Chairman and the farm bill

Farm and Ranch April 7, 2008 House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel recently said the farm bill needs more money for nutrition programs and more reform. Smith: "I think it was a pretty disappointing comment for him to make. I think both the House and Senate farm bills showed a great deal of reform in terms of new payment limits, lower adjusted gross income limit. There has been a lot of reform in this bill." That's American Farm Bureau Federation Farm Policy Specialist Tara Smith, who says Rangel's opinion matters because any extra funding for the farm bill needs approval from his committee. And we are less than two weeks now from the expiration of the second extension of the 2002 Farm Bill. Smith: "We are getting to the point where it is going to be almost impossible to meet that deadline. And then there are going to be some stuff decisions to be made. Obviously permanent law is still looming out there. Nobody thinks that is a good option. The Administration says they will not sign another one-month extension." Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin says a budget framework agreement has been agreed to that assumes 10-billion dollars above baseline funding. But where that additional funding comes from requires the agreement of the Senate Finance Committee and Rangel's House Ways and Means Committee. Harkin says that ten billion will allow the Ag Committee to meet its obligations, including farm income protection, specialty crops, nutrition, conservation and energy. There is also a permanent disaster program. Harkin says he is not entirely satisfied with the agreement but says we need a new farm bill not another extension. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.