Agriculture Committee Chairman Peterson Makes Plans for Next Farm Bill

House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) says he plans to begin the process of writing the next farm bill as early as this spring.

House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) says he plans to begin the process of writing the next farm bill as early as this spring. Speaking at a meeting of the American Sheep Industry Association, Peterson said he is serious about beginning the process with a series of hearings in Washington, as early as April and May followed by a series of farm bill field hearings around the country later this summer. He then hopes to actively begin the drafting of the next farm bill in the fall for it to be ready for what he believes will be a major budget reconciliation bill in 2011.

"We have written two farm bills in the past during a reconciliation bill and they were not the best because we were not ready. It is my goal that if we get pulled into a reconciliation bill next year, we will be ready," said the chairman. "We are working the numbers right now with everything on the table. We will work off the existing baseline and are not going to ask for an increase.

"I hope to meet with every group and industry and say here is your baseline funding. If the program you currently have does not provide the safety-net you need, come back to me with an alternative but make sure it is within the budget numbers you have for your commodity," he told the ASI meeting.

"After you have seen how much of the budget baseline is allocated to your concerns, I want to hear from you if you think those funds should be spent differently," he concluded.

The current farm bill covers the 2008 through 2012 crop years. Ideally, the next farm bill would be approved by Congress and signed into law in the summer or fall of 2012. Given the difficulties that Peterson and others on Capitol Hill had moving the last Act through the process, some are wondering if even 2-1/2 years is enough time to complete the work this time.

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