House Republicans Ponder Advancing the Farm Bill

House Agriculture Committee staff met with their counterparts in the Republican leadership on Wednesday to talk about how to make progress on the farm bill before the August recess. Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also had a conversation about the bill on the House floor. A one-year extension of current law combined with immediate disaster aid for livestock and specialty crop farmers affected by the drought is a hot topic of discussion, although Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), ranking member on the committee, has called such a plan "the worst idea” and vowed to fight it. Lucas appears to be more in favor of an extension of current law. Farm Bureau supports the farm bill approved July 12 by the House Agriculture Committee, as it is a fiscally responsible, bipartisan measure that continues to provide a basic-but-broad foundation of risk management protection for America’s farmers and ranchers.