Last month, we talked about what was in the Senate’s version of the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, better known as the Farm Bill. The process moved over to the House, where the bill has a new name, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management or FARRM Act. The debate in the Agriculture Committee focused on an amendment proposed by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) and David Scott (D-Georgia), which would have eliminated the market stabilization program for milk pricing and provided a safety net for dairy producers without requiring them to participate in a supply management program, such as the Dairy Security Act that is already in the Senate’s version of the bill. That amendment ran into stiff opposition from Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), who called the amendment a recipe for disaster.
Meanwhile, USDA officials are concerned about some of the proposed cuts to reports vital to dairy producers. We’ll hear from Jim Robb, the Senior Agricultural Economist and Director at the Livestock Marketing Information Center, who spoke during a recent Farm Foundation webinar on the proposed cuts.
Finally, the FARRM Act ran into trouble on the House floor, as leadership has proposed a vote on a one-year extension of the old farm bill, a moved opposed by the National Milk Producers Federation.
http://www.wdexpo.org/2012/07/31/milking-parlor-farm-bill-dairy-debate-moves-to-house/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorldDairyDiary+%28World+Dairy+Diary%29&utm_content=Google+Reader