Page 21 - Farm Bill Series_The 7 Things You Should Know
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But the dairy price support program itself was set to expire at the end of 2012 and revert to
               what’s known as “permanent law.” These provisions were included in the 1938 and 1949 farm
               bills and serve as a reminder that – if a new farm bill is not passed – significantly higher
               government price supports would kick in for most commodities.

               “It would also leave out any mandatory coverage for soybeans and other oilseeds as well as
               peanuts and sugar,” Hoefner noted in a blog post. “In other words, it is widely considered so
               extremely
               anachronistic as to
               be unworkable.”

               Over the next
               couple of months,
               House and Senate
               leaders tried to
               figure out a path
               forward on the farm
               bill.

               In early December
               2012, Lucas
               suggested that the
               bill might be able to
               advance as part of a
               possible last-
               minute deficit
               reduction
               agreement between
               “the powers that
               be,” or President Obama and House Speaker Boehner. He talked about a transition bill that some
               confused with an extension of current law.

               But Stabenow said she would not support an extension of the current farm bill.

               “We’re not going to do an extension, we’re not going to kick the can down the road,” she
               said.

               By December, worries about reverting to permanent law were mounting. And then the headlines
               started to emerge in major newspapers, warning that milk prices were about to double. Vilsack
               predicted the price of milk could rise to $6 per gallon, just as income taxes for almost all
               Americans were scheduled to increase.



               Talks of extending the 2008 farm bill heat up

               Both Stabenow and Lucas seemed confident that House and Senate leadership would accept their
               offers to extend the 2008 farm bill as part of the negotiations over the so-called “fiscal cliff,” and
               avoid what became known as the “dairy cliff.” They worked tirelessly over the last weeks of

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