Monday afternoon the Senate Farm Bill conferees formally presented a farm bill to the House. According to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D - Minn., the two chambers have agreed on every farm section of the bill, including a permanent disaster assistance program.
Unfortunately there was not agreement on how to pay for the bill, what offsets should be used for above baseline spending and which committees would be in charge of different parts of the bill. However; Peterson remained confident that the committee can meet the deadline of Friday when current farm legislation expires.
"I believe that we can work this out and we need to work this out," Peterson says. "And I believe we need to work this out by Wednesday."
The House-Senate Farm Bill Conference Committee is meeting again Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. EDT.