Farmers Holiday Gift Wish

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Many people will be hitting the Black Friday sales tomorrow and will probably make a pretty good dent in their holiday gift list. The major gift wish for farmers and ranchers this year though can't be found in the stores, and can't be delivered by Santa. Congress will have to make this gift delivery in the form of a farm bill. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack explains why the uncertainty of no farm bill is hitting those in agriculture very hard.

VILSACK: Hits that farmer and rancher who is trying to make decisions out there in the countryside, who still today doesn't quite know precisely what the programs are going to be, doesn't know how to tell his banker what the programs are going to be, doesn't know how to decide whether to expand - to buy an additional piece of equipment, because he or she does not know what the programs are going to be.

On whether any progress is being made by the House and Senate to craft one bill out of the two very different versions, differences which revolve primarily around the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Vilsack had this to say.

VILSACK: I suspect that progress has been made and will continue to be made on the almost ninety differences that exist between the House and the Senate versions. My suspicion is that the SNAP issue will be one of the issues that will be last addressed.

Vilsack also said that, even though there are very few days between now and the end of the year for Congress to be able to pass a new farm bill before the current farm bill expires, he feels it is still doable.

VILSACK: I think Congress is capable of acting very quickly when there is a will and there is a way. Obviously everyone recognizes this is long, long overdue.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.