What to expect in Farm Bill mark-up

Posted on by SDPrairieWriter
By Codi Vallery-Mills
Another round – the third to be exact – of Farm Bill re-writes and discussion is set to spark up again this week and next.
The House Agriculture Committee is expected to mark-up a farm bill on May 15 while the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee is expected to produce something yet this week.
South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem is concerned about efforts to include an animal welfare provision in the House version of the farm bill. Noem has mentioned animal activists are pushing for mandated care standards and if successful it would be devastating to livestock producers. She’s also concerned about the push for large Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts, which could hurt the chances of passing the farm bill.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) has indicated he intends to change the framework of his bill to achieve $38 billion in savings. Those savings will likely come from cuts in SNAP, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Conservation Reserve Program. Lesser cuts from commodity subsidies are expected.
The Senate did pass a farm bill last year and will likely make that version its starting point this May according to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow (D-MI).
The bill will achieve the $23 billion in savings that last year’s bill achieved, and that the cuts to achieve the savings will be distributed as they were in last year’s bill — i.e., approximately $6 billion from conservation, $4 billion from the SNAP, and $16 billion from the commodity and crop insurance titles, with the balance above $23 billion targeted to renew programs that do not have automatic funding baselines.
National Cattlemen Beef Association members are concerned about an amendment that could make it into the Senate version of the farm bill.
NCBA Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts says the provision was introduced by California Senator Dianne Feinstein and includes an agreement between the United Egg Producers and HSUS that dictates and curtails agricultural production practices.
Butts says Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow may include the Feinstein amendment for consideration in the new farm bill and NCBA will fight inclusion of it at any level.
Butts says NCBA has been working for the past two and a half years to get a five-year farm bill passed. She says however if the Feinstein amendment is included in the final package, NCBA will ask Senators to vote against the entire farm bill.

StabenowSenate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow of Michigan will lead Farm Bill markup discussion.
What to expect in Farm Bill mark-upBy CBW Staff
Another round – the third to be exact – of Farm Bill re-writes and discussion is set to spark up again this week and next. The House Agriculture Committee is expected to mark-up a farm bill on May 15 while the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee is expected to produce something yet this week. South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem is concerned about efforts to include an animal welfare provision in the House version of the farm bill. Noem has mentioned animal activists are pushing for mandated care standards and if successful it would be devastating to livestock producers. She’s also concerned about the push for large Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts, which could hurt the chances of passing the farm bill.  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas (R-OK) has indicated he intends to change the framework of his bill to achieve $38 billion in savings. Those savings will likely come from cuts in SNAP, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Conservation Reserve Program. Lesser cuts from commodity subsidies are expected.The Senate did pass a farm bill last year and will likely make that version its starting point this May according to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Stabenow (D-MI).The bill will achieve the $23 billion in savings that last year’s bill achieved, and that the cuts to achieve the savings will be distributed as they were in last year’s bill — i.e., approximately $6 billion from conservation, $4 billion from the SNAP, and $16 billion from the commodity and crop insurance titles, with the balance above $23 billion targeted to renew programs that do not have automatic funding baselines.National Cattlemen Beef Association members are concerned about an amendment that could make it into the Senate version of the farm bill.NCBA Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts says the provision was introduced by California Senator Dianne Feinstein and includes an agreement between the United Egg Producers and HSUS that dictates and curtails agricultural production practices.Butts says Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow may include the Feinstein amendment for consideration in the new farm bill and NCBA will fight inclusion of it at any level.Butts says NCBA has been working for the past two and a half years to get a five-year farm bill passed. She says however if the Feinstein amendment is included in the final package, NCBA will ask Senators to vote against the entire farm bill.

Originally appeared in May 8 issue of Cattle Business Weekly