2012 Farm Bill

The leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees hope to write the 2012 farm bill (which will expire in September 2012) on an expedited schedule next year. This will ensure it is sent to President Obama for his signature before the fall election, but the writing processes in the two chambers will be very different. Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee said he has discussed the schedule with Stabenow and realizes that the Senate “might go ahead of us. That’s fine. I’ve got to have a year to get ready.” He goes on to explain that farmers are more likely to get a better bill when a president is facing re-election. 

Lucas said the bill would be structured the same as in the past with a “three-legged stool”— commodity, conservation and nutrition programs — to assemble the farm-to-table coalition that is needed to pass it. Other titles of the bill, including research and rural development, will be important he said, but the traditional core titles still would be the top priority. The ideological extremes within the committee — from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who favors nutrition programs, to Republicans elected with Tea Party backing — may be wider than in the past, Lucas acknowledged, but he said he thinks a year of working together will help build the “comity” needed to pass the bill.

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, said that as the Committee begins focusing on the 2012 Farm Bill, she will urge members and stakeholders to first focus on the guiding principles of the Farm Bill, rather than specific programs.   Other principles Chairwoman Stabenow laid out include emphasis on research and innovation, preserving and protecting our land and water, common-sense environmental regulations, safe and nutritious food, creating new opportunities in energy, investing in rural communities and the next generation, and emphasizing openness. She was forced to cancel the first Senate farm bill hearing, scheduled in Michigan for April 9, because Congress still was working on the continuing resolution late April 8.

The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on Thursday, May 13 to continue discussing the 2012 Farm Bill.  This is the second hearing the Committee has held on the subject in Washington, but has also held field hearings around the country over the past several days.  More field hearings are scheduled for the coming week. Thursday’s hearing questioned two panels of academics on the effectiveness of the farm programs included in the 2008 Farm Bill, and what changes should be considered in the 2012 Farm Bill.  The questioning covered a wide range of topics, but risk management for production farms received the most attention by all members of the Committee.  Other topics included nutrition, food safety, young farmers in rural America, and biotechnology.