By Denise Ross

Congress, which has the ultimate luxury of being able to extend it’s own deadlines, is eyeing the looming April 18 deadline for the 2007 Farm Bill not with fear or dread, but maybe annoyance. (At what point does this go from absurd to depressing? It’s long past funny.)

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Sen. John Thune, R-SD, gave last year’s Farm Bill even odds of becoming law sometime this year.

As talks continue, we remain optimistic that there are enough of us in Congress who understand the importance of passing a Farm Bill to ultimately get it done. But if this April 18 deadline lapses, all bets are off. We’ll end up extending the current (2002) Farm Bill a year or 2 years. This is a critical time for the Farm Bill. …

There’s a 50-50 chance we will still get a Farm Bill done this year.

Thune, who predicted this scenario in July, is pushing for a “permanent disaster title” (ie, automatic drought relief or flood payments) and is keen to put into law various provisions that would promote the next generation of ethanol, cellulosic ethanol (think switch grass, wood waste and even parts of the corn plant way more fiberous than the kernels.)

Apparently, a jurisdictional scuffle between the Senate’s Agriculture Committee and its Finance Committee is part of the holdup, leaving Thune to say the Finance Committee should keep its nose out of ag policy.

The Finance Committee wants a say - ‘If we come up with additionall revenue, we want to tell you how to spend it.’ The Agriculture Committee needs to be setting policy. That’s why we have an Ag Committee.

As Chef on South Park used to say, “Now, children …”

Meanwhile, here’s a link to stories about the latest Farm Bill news.  

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