Fate of the Farm Bill & Drought Effects

Fate of the Farm Bill & Drought Effects. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The question of the farm bill keeps popping up and there really don’t seem to be much in the way of answers although it’s fate may now be tied to the outcome of House-White House negotiations on a grand deal to avert the fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes. Iowa GOP Senator Chuck Grassley says House and Senate ag staffers will have to move now to have a farm bill ready to insert in a last-minute cliff deal.

GRASSLEY: If it had to wait until the fiscal cliff is done, you don’t have to wait until a fiscal cliff agreements are reached, we could start negotiating the farm bill yesterday.

Consumers really haven’t seen the impact of the drought at the grocery store yet - but USDA says we can expect to start seeing the effects by the end of the year. Chicken, milk and eggs will likely be the first to rise in price - followed by pork and beef price increases in early 2013. Higher prices will spread through the rest of the grocery store by mid-year. USDA Economist Ricky Volpe notes the drought affected about 80-percent of agricultural land and hit the crops fundamental to America’s food supply.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.