WASHINGTON, Jan.
8, 2013 – The farm bill could hit the Senate floor next week, Sen. John Thune,
R-S.D., told reporters today in a teleconference.
“[I]f they could
get this done and get it on the floor next week, that would be great,” Thune
said. Congress has limited time this month due to a weeklong recess starting
Jan. 20 and President Obama’s State of the Union address on Jan. 28.
Thune said the
dairy title has become the main point of contention for farm bill conferees,
and implied it was holding up the rest of the bill. 
But
Thune, who is not a member of the conference, said he did not have any details
on the legislation. “It’s
hard to know what’s in the bill because [lawmakers are] playing it very close
to the vest,” he said.
Though Thune hails from a
farming- and ranching- heavy state, his support for a final farm bill is not
guaranteed. He voted against the Senate version of the legislation after the
Agriculture Committee rejected one of his amendments that would have eliminated
high fixed target prices for rice and peanuts. He also objected to the Senate
Democrats’ plan to cut $4 billion from food stamp funding over 10 years as
insufficient. House Republicans have proposed cuts of $39 billion.
“Frankly [the
bill has] gotten worse as it’s moved through the process,” Thune told reporters
today.
Thune stressed, however,
his support for sod-saver provisions, conservation compliance and livestock
indemnity programs that could appear in the final bill.
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