PIERRE, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) US Senator Mike Rounds says that the Senate version of the Farm Bill is $1.5 trillion, and the Senate is quibbling about the last $20 billion of a sub package of $150 billion farm programs. The argument is whether to put that disputed amount into the commodity side of the farm bill or the conservation side.
Rounds says that politics is part of the problem. Both Republicans and Democrats believe they will get a better deal for their farm priorities if their side wins in November. Control of the House and Senate as well as the White House is on the line with the elections in November.
Rounds expressed a hope that a new Farm Bill could be completed before the elections, but he isn’t optimistic. A more realistic scenario is the legislative extension of the current farm bill with a new bill passed after the inauguration of the president in late January.