Ag Policy Blog

The Senate is expected to vote this morning on whether to end amendments to the farm bill and move into final debate on the bill.

The cloture vote requires 60 senators to pass. Otherwise, the leaders on the Senate Agriculture Committee would have to either come to the floor with an agreement on the number of amendments to debate.

Agricultural, nutrition and conservation groups sent a letter Wednesday, with 120 groups signing on to it, urging senators to support the cloture vote.

As the letter stated, "This bill was crafted in a bipartisan fashion and reported out of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry by a vote of 15-5. It contains major reforms as well as spending cuts to be used to reduce the Federal budget deficit.

"This bill affects 16 million Americans whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. We must pass a farm bill this year to provide certainty to those individuals. We must cut unnecessary spending. We must ensure that consumers will continue to have a safe, healthy and affordable food supply. We must provide an effective farm and natural resource safety net. We must invest in initiatives that boost exports, and spur innovations in new industries.

"It is vitally important that the Senate support the cloture motion and finish the farm bill in the next few days."

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