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December to produce a farm bill extension package. But it wasn’t just a straight extension.

               Some of the key principals wanted more. Stabenow wanted renewal of energy programs and
               organic provisions in addition to $125 million in “retroactive” insurance for tart cherry growers
               who had been hard hit by a spring freeze in her home state of Michigan. Lucas wanted
               continuation of direct payments to give growers some “certainty” on government supports for
               2013. And Peterson wanted major dairy reforms from the proposed Dairy Security Act.

               But as the media warned consumers of $8 per gallon milk, sources said the White House issued
               only one directive regarding the farm bill: Fix the looming “dairy cliff” so prices would not
               dramatically escalate.

               As Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., huddled to
               negotiate a package of tax provisions and budget cuts that would avoid the “fiscal cliff,” it
               became apparent that farm bill provisions would only be able to catch a ride if the bigger fiscal
               deal was reached. But it couldn’t be just any farm bill package. It had to be a deal that would be
               able to pass the House and Senate without causing other complications. And it needed to be
               something – both in substance and bill size – that didn’t overshadow a major rewrite of the
               nation’s tax and spending laws.

               Shortly after Biden and McConnell reached a deal, Senate Majority Leader Reid told staff he
               wanted a “clean” farm bill extension – something that wasn’t forthcoming from the ag committee
               chairs. With the clock ticking down to a final vote on the larger package, McConnell’s policy
               adviser, Neil Chatterjee, huddled with Reid’s legislative assistant, Kasey Gillette, and Speaker
               Boehner’s legislative assistant, Natasha Eckard, to hammer out language for a farm bill
               extension. Several other House and Senate staff members contributed as they rushed to find
               agreement before the current bill expired on midnight Dec. 31.

               It was New Year’s Eve, but lawmakers and staff had no time or energy left to celebrate.

               “Everyone agreed that we could cut direct
               payments from a political standpoint, but because
               it was a 10-year ‘pay-for’ on a one-year extension,
               we could have easily triggered a budget point of
               order – threatening the larger tax and budget
               cutting package,” noted a source familiar with the
               negotiations. “And no one was willing to blow the
               whole fiscal cliff deal over agriculture.”
               The three major staffers involved knew the dairy
               reform provisions were a non-starter in the House.
               During a GOP caucus meeting, Boehner had              Former Speaker of the House John
                                                                     Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks about the farm
               publicly criticized the Dairy Security Act’s market   Former Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-
                                                                    Ohio, speaks about the farm bill in 2011 during a
                                                                     bill in 2011 during a press conference
               stabilization language in the farm bill extension    press conference after the annual Farm Bill Forum
                                                                     after the annual Farm Bill Forum he
                                                                     hosted annually in his home state
               package crafted by Lucas, Stabenow and Peterson      he hosted annually in his home state
               as “Soviet style” supply management provisions.
               20                                    www.Agri-Pulse.com
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