Negotiations to address the looming "fiscal cliff" are currently consuming all the oxygen in Washington, DC. As a result, it appears that the best hope of passing the 2012 Farm Bill in this Congress is to incorporate it into a larger legislative package that addresses taxes and entitlements, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Leaders of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the House Agriculture Committee have been meeting to work out differences in the versions of the Farm Bill that were passed in the Senate and by the House Agriculture Committee. The Senate version cuts approximately $23 billion in spending over the next decade while the House version cuts just over $35 billion. Spending for conservation programs is similar in both versions at approximately $6 billion.

The objective of the Congressional agriculture leaders is to work out an agreement on a single, final version of the Farm Bill that will generate majority support in both House and Senate and could be incorporated as part of the cost savings measures in legislation to address the fiscal cliff. However, adoption of an end-of-the-year fiscal package is by no means a given at this point and the addition of agricultural programs appears even more uncertain.

If no agreement is reached on taxes and entitlements and the 2012 Farm Bill is not passed as stand-alone legislation, one of the few options available would be to implement a short-term extension of farm programs and start over again with the process of developing a new five-year bill during the 113th Congress. Many Senators and Congressmen are on record as being strongly opposed to starting the farm bill process again from the beginning, but time is growing short. (pmr)