11/20/07 Farm Bill extension introduced in House

Farm and Ranch November 20, 2007 The stalemate in the U.S. Senate on a new farm bill has prompted Kansas Republican Congressman Jerry Moran to introduce legislation in the House to extend the 2002 Farm Bill, which expired September 30th. Moran: "Until now I never thought an extension of the farm bill was the right course of action. And while I remain interested in passing a new farm bill, we should extend the current one for another year. This brings to some certainty to farm policy and should we approve a farm bill in the next several months it would give USDA time to implement that new bill." House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Democrat Collin Peterson, says they are frustrated by the lack of Senate action but adds that it is premature to talk about an extension. Peterson: "I think it is a bad idea to be even talking about it because if we end up with any kind of extension we will lose momentum. Once that happens we are probably going to be dead in the water until after the next presidential election, which is not a good outcome for a lot of different reasons." Peterson says it doesn't matter to him what is in a Senate version of the farm bill, if the upper chamber could just get something out before Congress leaves in December, he says there could be a conference and a farm bill done in January. Peterson: "I just hoping that some folks over there will come to their senses and they will figure out a way to winnow down these amendments and figure out some way to move ahead." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.