WASHINGTON (DTN) -- Staff directors for the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees are meeting about the farm bill.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., told DTN about farm-bill talks on Tuesday evening after each spoke at an event at the National Arboretum.

"There are some very good conversations going on right now," Stabenow said.

Stabenow pushed back on comments by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., that she wants to add immediate aid to farmers as part of a farm-bill extension. Stabenow said she had a brief conversation with Moran about the farm bill but that she still wants to finish a farm bill this year. Stabenow is retiring at the end of this Congress. Stabenow acknowledged she had told Moran that raising reference prices that trigger crop subsidies would not help farmers immediately and that farmers need aid now. She described her conversation with Moran as "general."

Moran had spoken about the possibility of aid to producers on Monday at the Ag Outlook Forum held by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. Moran told the meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, that farmers can't wait for a five-year farm bill, especially when payments for this year would come at least a year from now. "We cannot afford to wait past the end of the year," Moran said.(https://www.dtnpf.com/…)

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, also spoke on the Senate floor calling for direct aid to farmers before the end of the year.

Thompson confirmed that the staff directors had been meeting. In his speech at the arboretum, Thompson said, "We're going to get the farm bill done in 2024."

Referring to Stabenow, Boozman and Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, Thompson said that "the other three corners" are just as determined to get it done this year. Bleak data confirms the need to write the bill this year, he added.

Thompson emphasized that a farm bill could bring the conservation programs in the Inflation Reduction Act into the farm bill.

Thompson also praised Stabenow and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as his partners in his efforts to help agriculture.

Scott said last week that he hopes the four leaders can reach agreement on the budget for the farm bill before Congress leaves at the end of September to campaign. But neither Stabenow nor Thompson has given any indication that they are near agreement on how to handle the funding programs in the bill. Thompson has gotten a bill through the House Agriculture Committee, but the Congressional Budget Office has said it would raise the deficit. On the Senate side, Stabenow and Boozman have released frameworks for the bill, but not legislative text.

BOOZMAN CALLS FOR EMERGENCY AID

Boozman, in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, called on Congress and the Biden administration to provide emergency aid to farmers and to pass a farm bill before the end of the calendar year.

On emergency assistance, Boozman said, "Farmers across the country need a bridge to help their family farms survive into next year. We've seen previous ad-hoc assistance programs established in a period of weeks, as demonstrated by then Secretary (Sonny) Perdue when the COVID-19 pandemic created disruptions for producers. That level of timely and urgent response by Congress and the administration is once again warranted."

On the farm bill, "The next farm bill is the appropriate place to make the necessary long-term corrections to our farm safety net, but farmers need timely support addressing 2024 losses as they enter the winter months when they make planting decisions and secure financing for the upcoming crop year," Boozman said.

"We must redouble our efforts to pass a farm bill before the end of the calendar year that meets this moment -- one that provides the support our farmers desperately need to stay in business. I am committed to sitting down with my counterparts for as long as it takes to hash out a deal that our members can support."

DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton contributed to this report.

Jerry Hagstrom can be reached at jhagstrom@nationaljournal.com

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