Agricultural News
2012 Farm Bill Set to Move Forward on Senate Floor, Stabenow Says
Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:07:39 CDT
Senator Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told reporters that the Senate's version of the 2012 farm bill is inching closing to debate on the Senate floor. She told reporters in a conference call that Senate President Harry Reed has agreed to move the bill forward this week.
Stabenow said she is pleased with the bill in its current form and that it does contain major reforms.
"In our judgment this represents the most significant reform in agricultural policy in decades. It reduces the deficit by $23 billion as my good friend the chairman of the budget committee would say that's real cuts, not smoke and mirrors. It's real cuts. It's real reform. Bottom line in the reforms is that the era of direct payments is over. We're not going to be paying for crops they don't grow and we're not going to be paying farmers when they are already doing very well."
Stabenow said the bill will not just impact farmers and ranchers, but that some of its major provisions will go much further.
"In it we also are protecting families from sudden spikes in food prices. When we look at the fact that we have the safest food supply, the most dependable and affordable food supply in the world, this is a very important part of the construct when we are looking at reform in food and farm policy."
The bill's commodity title contains the Agricultural Risk Coverage provision, often called "shallow loss." Some commodity groups like it. Some don't. Stabenow said it's a good proposal and is equitable across all the major crops.
"Interestingly we have a report that shows that the ARC program would have provided approximately the same level of price protection for virtually all of our commodities except rice which would, in fact, have received more support."
All in all, she said this is a good, fair farm bill proposal.
"I'm feeling very optimistic, very confident about the work product that we have brought from committee. Strong bipartisan support and a lot of bipartisan work. Our goal is not to guarantee groups the same amount of taxpayer money they have gotten in the last farm bill. It is about insuring their risk, giving them tools to work with making sure nobody loses the farm because of a few days of bad weather or market conditions outside their control."
Stabenow said no changes have yet been made to the bill since it came out of committee.
She acknowledges there are differences in direction between the House and the Senate versions and that they will each pass a bill and then conference.
"I think it's common knowledge that there is a different approach in the House. Chairman Lucas and I have a great relationship, have great respect for one another. There is a different approach. We'll work that out in conference committee, no question about that."
Stabenow said that there could be numerous amendments offered to the bill when it goes to the Senate floor. She said she is committed to ensuring the process keeps moving forward.
"We expect we could have lot of different types of amendments. We are working through amendments with our Democratic colleagues. We have, I think, identified most of the universe of possible amendments. We are looking to hear from our Republican colleagues and certainly, as with anything, it does not have to be germane to the bill on the floor. We could certainly see outliers coming forward, but we will address them one at a time. We'll negotiate, the leadership will negotiate and we'll do our best. We're going to be fair, but we want to build on. But in the end analysis, if somebody's just trying to obstruct and stop the bill from moving forward, then we'll deal with that."
Press on the LISTEN BAR below to hear more from Senator Debbie Stabenow on the progress the farm bill is making towards the Senate floor.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
