September 30 Farm Bill 'Deadline' Not Likely To Be Met

Senate Ag Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said this week that Congress will not clear a new farm bill before the current law expires September 30."I am afraid we are going to go past the September 30 date,” Roberts told reporters. “Miracles can happen. We are not giving up.” However, he said he did not want to talk of an extension as that would cause still-more delays in getting the bill done.Roberts said the four ag panel leaders reconciled differences in the commodity title but are awaiting a score from the Congressional Budget Office. Indications are those changes would let producers in drought-hit areas to update yields, but there would also be a provision barring those who have not planted their base acres to a covered commodity since 2009 to no longer claim any farm program payments.Roberts said no agreement is yet in place on work requirements and waivers relative to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp) policy. “I think if we could get the waiver challenge behind us, working with the administration, that would be very helpful. If we do that, I think we could get ourselves to a farm bill,” Roberts said.