Splitting the Farm Bill

Splitting the Farm Bill? I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

I have been told repeatedly that 80% of the Farm Bill has nothing to do with agriculture. But the idea of splitting the Farm Bill is not the way to go. That’s how a top American Farm Bureau Federation official describes the idea of splitting the bill between ag and nutrition programs to get it through the House. AFBF Director Dale Moore says the proposal - now getting serious attention from House GOP Leader Eric Cantor - will only cause further delay in getting a farm bill done - and may even cause more harm.

MOORE: I don’t think the votes will be there to pass two separate bills and it raises all kinds of questions. Does the leadership expect that all the Republicans would vote to get both bills off the House floor and into conference and then you would run into the problem that the Senate Majority leader’s already indicated that he’s not going to take them up as two separate bills.

Moore says separating farm programs from nutrition programs only adds more partisanship to the process.

MOORE: Our only hope is that whatever they decide to do they decide rather quickly so when we come back into session next week or when Congress does that we can get right back to getting the farm bill done and as folks have noticed the ag appropriations got pulled down but keep the farm bill as a complete package.

Moore says House leaders should be careful not to head off in some new direction - complaining they keep trying to find a way to pass the farm bill other than through regular order - when regular order is really what’s needed.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.