Sen. Patrick Leahy says he’s optimistic that Congress will pass a new long term farm bill in the first few weeks of January.
Leahy said the legislation should include a new dairy price stabilization program and only limited cuts in the Food Stamp program. He said he’s frustrated that the House has not taken final action on a Farm Bill that passed the Senate earlier this year.
The Senate bill contains a new program for dairy farmers. It’s a voluntary plan that allows farmers to purchase price insurance to cover them in the event that milk prices fall below the cost of production.
Leahy said the goal of the program is to lessen the impact of the wild swings in prices paid to dairy farmers. If a farmer chooses to participate in the price insurance plan, they must also agree to be part of a supply management program that will reduce production levels when there’s an oversupply of milk.
"I think we have worked it out." - Sen. Patrick Leahy
While the Senate bill includes a $4 billion cut in the Food Stamp program over the next five years, some House members are pushing for a $40 billion reduction. Leahy said he’ll never agree to that approach.
“I’ve made it very clear that I cannot support one that does not have adequate nutrition programs in it and does not have an adequate dairy program,” said Leahy. “Those are the two things that have been the biggest holdups I think we’ve worked it out. I’m hoping ... it will be the first week that we’re back we’ll finally pass it.”
Because there won’t be a new Farm Bill in place on Jan. 1, technically the law reverts back to a dairy system put in place in the 1940s. It’s one that has much higher milk prices for dairy farmers and consumers.
Leahy says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has agreed not to phase in that 65 year old law as long as the House and Senate are making progress on a new Farm Bill:
“Nobody is going to push him to go immediately into that. Nobody wants him to suddenly having a doubling, tripling of milk in the stores, cost of milk in the stores, that’s not going to do anybody any good,” said Leahy. “So I think so long as the secretary knows that we’re very close, both Republicans and Democrats coming close on a bill, he’ll hold off doing anything and he has the flexibility to do that.”
The House Agriculture Committee passed a bill that endorsed many elements of the Senate’s dairy plan but the measure never reached the House floor for a vote because Republican leaders didn’t support it.
Congressman Peter Welch said the key to a compromise is finding a solution that contains only limited cuts to the Food Stamp program.
“We just can’t have a $40 billion cut in the nutrition program, it’s really going to be bad for families,” said Welch. “And it’s an extreme contrast with what they’re talking about putting in the pockets of soybean and corn producers, including some folks who don’t even get out there and work the fields like our dairy farmers do.”
Several weeks ago, the House passed a one-month extension of the current Farm Bill. But Leahy said the Senate rejected this approach in order to put pressure on negotiators to draft a final compromise on a long term plan in the next few weeks.
