House Passes Farm Bill

The House has passed its farm bill, but it does not include year round e 15 legislation, another setback for corn growers and ethanol producers. The E 15 fight overshadowed Farm Bill action as oil patch Republicans split with ag Republicans over changes to small refinery exemptions, which is a spot that almost killed the Farm Bill. It resulted in the house delaying the year round e 15 vote until May 13. Top ag Democrat. Angie Craig,

“I personally witnessed both sides saying that they had a gentleman's agreement to bring e 15 to the floor and not to bring e 15 to the floor. And I would just caution my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who believe that there is a deal to get e 15 to the floor, that there are some antics and tricks related to going back to the Rules Committee that folks may be planning.”

Lawmakers approved the package 224 to 200. House members also rejected an effort to block USDA from requiring electronic ID tags for cattle and bison. The bill keeps last year's higher commodity reference prices in place and raises several USDA loan limits, including up to $3 million for guaranteed operating loans. It also reauthorizes the Conservation Reserve Program at its 27 million-acre cap, and includes language preventing states from enforcing animal housing standards outside their borders. The bill now heads to the Senate.