Earlier today, in a party-line vote of 216-208, the House of Representatives passed a stripped down version of the 2013 Farm Bill, containing only farm programs. American Soybean Association (ASA) President Danny Murphy, a soybean farmer from Canton, Miss., issued the following statement on the vote:

“ASA is relieved that we will finally see a conference on the farm bill. However today's approval by the House on a partial bill will mean nothing if we can't get a bill back from conference that both chambers will pass. In that sense, there is still much work to be done.

“ASA is opposed to the replacement of permanent law by whatever legislation may result from this process. If only Title 1 of a new farm bill is made permanent, other titles – including conservation, research, energy and trade – would risk not being reauthorized when the bill expires after five years, since Title 1 would remain in place. Also, we are very concerned that Title 1 of a new bill could include provisions that would distort plantings and production in years of low prices, and that it would be extremely difficult to change these provisions if the legislation were made permanent.

“ASA now calls on both the House and Senate to work in a bipartisan manner to craft a conference bill that has the ability to pass both the House and Senate and be signed by the President before September 30 when existing authorities for important risk management, trade expansion, conservation, bio-energy, and agricultural research authorities all expire.”