Senator Tom Harkin says the Farm Bill that passed the U-S Senate yesterday is an economic stimulus package for rural America. The next step for the bill is a conference committee to hammer out differences with the House version. He says if they all work together, they can produce a farm bill that’ll apply to this year’s crop. As chairman of the Ag Committee, Harkin shepherded the bill through the Senate.He says it strengthens income protection for farmers, and rewards farmers with more conservation support than any previous farm bill. The Senate Farm bill spends seven Billion dollars more than the House version, but Harkin says spending differences aren’t as great as they seem. He says the Senate farm bill costs the same as the house bill, because it’s spread out over ten years. The Senate Farm Bill contains two provisions both of Iowa’s senators fought for: a measure to bar packer ownership of feedlots, and a cap on subsidies that would limit payments to farmers.
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