01/24/08 AFB delegates want a Farm Bill now

American Farm Bureau delegates are tired of waiting. They unanimously passed a resolution last week calling on the Congress to pass a Farm Bill now. MASLYN "The purpose of the resolution was to provide the President and the Congress with a sense of urgency that farmers and ranchers want this farm bill completed. They want it passed and signed by the President." AFBF's Mark Maslyn says they take the president at his word when he says no new taxes in the Farm Bill. The House and Senate passed farm bill proposals are billions of dollars over the baseline set by the Congressional Budget Office. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota says he's trying to get the Bush administration to do some bargaining. PETERSON "When you get into cutting Food Stamps, conservation, direct payments, payment limits, so forth that they keep bringing up I don't see how you get a bill like that through the Congress." Peterson says he would like to get a final farm bill by the February recess." PETERSON "And when we come back in those two or three weeks in March before the Easter break we'll have a chance to take another run at it." Peterson says there's not a lot of public understanding about what's going on with the Farm Bill discussions and he says the only way to resolve the debate is through better understanding. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott