By Denise Ross

I found a good run-down of the farm bill, which is not quite over the finish line. But Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., likes what he sees, according to Agriculture Online.

He gets drought relief, trimmed only slightly from an original $4B price tag to $3.8B.

“One of the hardest fought battles in the farm bill process was carrying the permanent disaster program we passed in the Senate to the finish line,” said Thune. “The biggest obstacle to overcome was the fact that only the Senate farm bill included permanent disaster, and it was one of the first farm bill components the House was willing to bargain away in pre-conference negotiations with the [Bush] administration. Thanks to a unified Senate in the conference committee we now will have for the first time in years a comprehensive permanent disaster program that will provide a safety net and fill in the gaps where crop insurance and other programs stop short.”

Hey, Thune, didn’t you used to hang out with some of those scoundrels in the House? Anyway, I didn’t think drought aid would make it, but it is still alive.

But wait, there’s more. Ethanol takes a bit of a hit.

Another way the farm bill would be paid for is with a cut in the size of the tax credit for ethanol, reportedly from 51 cents a gallon to 45 cents.

“We’re not pleased that support for corn ethanol will be reduced in the farm bill, and would have rather seen Congress roll back some incentives for major oil companies to support cellulosic ethanol,” Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol.

According to Thune, there are some gains for cellulosic ethanol, however. The compromise worked out Friday included:

• $400 million in tax credits for development of cellulosic ethanol
• An additional $4 billion for conservation programs, including $1.1 billion for the Conservation Security Program

Thune noted that the framework also includes an increased ethanol producer tax credit for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Additionally the ethanol tariff import tariff, which is critical to the future of South Dakota’s ethanol industry, would be extended for 2 years.

Finally, feeding me persistent skepticism that this won’t all unravel are some continuing disagreements.

… major policy issues in conservation remain unresolved.

“They’re still debating CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) policy. They’re still debating EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) policy. They’re still debating sodsaver — that’s a biggie,” (a lobbyist) said.

Thune’s a big sod-saver guy, but maybe since he got drought relief he’ll let that one go? We’ll see.

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