03/06/07 Farm Bill timeline

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's the way Bob Young of the American Farm Bureau Federation feels. YOUNG "I think you can make a very strong case that the current farm bill is working and the current farm bill is working well." Young says Farm Bureau members were pleased to see that the Bush administration's farm bill proposals had several promising provisions. YOUNG "It does address a number of priority issues that we have from conservation to renewable energy to beginning farmer programs but you know on the other hand there are very definitely some provisions in the administration's proposal that we would have some problems with." The biggest bone of contention is the means test for farmers with adjusted gross income of over 200 thousand dollars would not be eligible for farm support payments. So when does Congress have to finish work on the farm bill? MERCIER "Chairman Harkin and Chairman Peterson have agreed to try to finish this thing and get it to the president by the end of September which is when the current farm bill expires. We have to complete our House and Senate bills by the August recess which is about the third of August." Stephanie Mercier of the Senate Ag Committee says a lot of the work can't be completed until they know how much money will be appropriated for the Farm Bill and she says that will not be known until the summer. There will be a lot of last minute work this summer on the Farm Bill. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott