The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to take up the Senate version of the farm bill on Thursday, August 6. A draft bill has made available for review by committee members and outside groups. The two key issues that have slowed action in the Senate - the authorization of year-round, voluntary sales of E15, and a one-year delay before certain states must begin sharing the benefit costs of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with the federal government – have been addressed in the draft. While chairman John Boozman had initially intended to keep the contentious E15 issue out of the farm bill, corn state senators believe this is the best opportunity to resolve the issue and pushed for its inclusion. Of additional concern to LICA members in the committee’s draft is the diversion of nearly $2 billion in funding from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) below the levels Congress established just last year to cover other priorities.
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