07/30/07 CSP foreseen House-Senate farm bill battleground

Farm and Ranch July 30, 2007 The battle on the House floor last week during consideration of the 2007 Farm Bill turned out to be a partisan one over a tax used to offset a further increase in nutrition program spending. Most Republicans who had supported the House Ag Committee farm bill on its merits turned against the legislation because of what they called a tax increase. Still the Ag Committee's bill passed with few changes on a 231 to 191 vote. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson believes the vote which defeated a more radical proposal by Ron Kind of Wisconsin is more reflective of the true support for the House Ag Committee bill. Over three hundred members, Democrats and Republicans opposed Kind's Amendment. Peterson says with that and the support of the farm lobby he doesn't see how the Senate can do anything much different than the House. Once the Senate gets a farm bill Peterson expects the show down between to the two chambers to come over Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin's pet program, the Conservation Security Program. Peterson: "You measure it up against it up against EQIP, or WRP or WHIP or CRP or these other programs, the member chose those programs before they choose CSP and that is what happened in our committee. So he has some selling to do with us." And Peterson says based on discussions he's had with some Senators, Harkin has some selling to do on some members of his own committee I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network