Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) says the writing of the next farm bill is still in its preliminary stages and that there is virtually no outline of what the final law will encompass.
Speaking recently with Informa Economics, Roberts said that before the committee can proceed to work on new farm legislation, the panel first will need to schedule oversight hearings –– both in Washington and around the country –– to determine how well the current legislation is working. When asked about a farm bill timeline, Roberts, who was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee when it wrote the 1996 farm bill, pointed out that "We're not even close to that. We don't know the budget."
Robert did indicate that Congress will need to keep its eyes fixed firmly on the future as it debates the next farm Act. "We need to say, 'This is our basic measure: Over the next several decades, the world population will go from 6 billion to 9.3 billion.' We have to double our ag production," said Roberts. "That includes all the breakthroughs in technology and research and development."
There has been speculation that farm state senators would try to mark up a new farm bill this year to take advantage of lame duck Sen. Kent Conrad's (D-N.D.) continuing chairmanship of the Budget Committee when it comes time to find new sources of funding. Roberts dismissed such speculation. "Why does that have anything to do with it? You shouldn't put [farm bill] timing on whether or not an individual senator retires." (Conrad, who also is a member of the Agriculture Committee, was instrumental in helping provide funding for the 2008 farm bill.)
With regard to the current dairy program, Roberts mentioned proposals that have been developed by USDA's dairy advisory council and the National Milk Producers Federation, and predicted that "Some [will] want to move dairy reform ahead of the farm bill." However, Roberts rejects that prospect for two main reasons: the effect that new dairy spending would have on the budget baseline for agriculture; and the free-for-all that likely would take place on the Senate floor once a dairy provision was introduced.
