Progress Made on Farm Bill

A breakthrough on the Farm Bill today and negotiators have reached a tentative agreement The 280 billion dollar legislation expands Agricultural and nutrition programs A key breakthrough came today when senior lawmakers agreed to add 800-million dollars for nutrition programs to be paid for with cuts in direct subsidies and disaster payments for farmers Senator Kent Conrad says the shift is urgently needed because of the run-up in food costs and food prices amp lt Senator Conrad We came out of the conference this afternoon with across the board bi-partisan support Republicans and Democrats Chairman and Ranking members of the Agriculture committee finance ways and means committee myself the chairman of the budget committee I am just delighted amp gt The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Minnesota Democrat Collin Peterson says there s no question that Congress can complete the bill by the first week in May