Farm Bill Fallout

One Congressman said, it's not perfect; but it will do. Now the shouting begins as the House passed the farm bill on Wednesday morning. I guess it depends on what part of the ag industry you are in whether you think it is a good or bad bill. The biggest issue was Country of Origin Labeling legislation. Colin Woodall - Vice President of Government Affairs with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association comments on their dislike of COOL.

WOODALL: There's a lot of folks that will say they want to know where their beef comes from but we have seen study after study where they may tell you that but when they actually go to the retail meat case and purchase their steak or their hamburger, all of a sudden that is not something they're thinking about. They're thinking about the price, they're thinking about how rosy red our product looks, they're thinking about how many steaks are in a package. That all of a sudden takes precedent. So unfortunately COOL has not really provided any benefit to the consumer or to us as an industry. It only costs us money.

He says the biggest concern is that Canada and Mexico intend to retaliate against the U.S. if COOL is not fixed. House Ag Ranking Member Collin Peterson says the legislation isn't perfect - but he believes it's the best bill that could be produced in this political climate.

PETERSON: It's a compromise and not everybody got everything they wanted and there's people unhappy about different things being left out and things being put in and so forth.

The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week - and then it will be on the President's desk for his signature.

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