Senate Enacts Short-Term Farm Bill Extension

Washington D.C.- Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Finance Committee, has been working with fellow members of Congress to achieve enactment of a new Farm Bill that incorporates improvements in federal farm policy that benefit Idahoans. Today, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that would extend the current Farm Bill for a week as work continues to conclude negotiations on the new Farm Bill.

"Ideally, a new Farm Bill would be enacted by now providing farmers and ranchers some certainty in this crop year," Crapo said. "However, the Farm Bill Conference Committee is continuing to work to achieve an agreement, and I am encouraged by the reports of progress being made. Idahoans would benefit from an expansion of programs important to specialty crop producers, improvements to conservation programs, tax incentives for the recovery of endangered species, expanded funding for nutrition programs such as the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program that has been of great benefit to Idaho students and producers, and many more of the important provisions that have been discussed in the context of a new Farm Bill."

The Senate passed a one-week extension of the Farm Bill until May 2, 2008. The measure must next be passed by the House and signed by the President in order to be enacted.