WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late this evening after two marathon days of House Agriculture Committee mark-up, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) announced that the 2007 Farm Bill has been passed by the Committee and is anticipated to come to a vote before the U.S. House of Representatives sometime in the next two weeks. 

Boyda said, “The 2007 Farm Bill strikes the right balance – providing a safety net for farmers while at the same time modestly increasing the funds available for nutrition programs such as food stamps and farmer’s market programs for seniors.”

Boyda continued, “The 2007 Farm Bill is a good bill for Kansas.  The work done by Agriculture Committee members provides a safety net for independent farmers and ranchers and closes some of the biggest loopholes for those abusing the system.  No one will be completely satisfied.  But, it is no easy task to balance the needs and wishes of so many different agricultural interests – farmers, ranchers, hunters and energy groups.  This Farm Bill allows us to move forward with country-of-origin-labeling which has been blocked for nearly five years and provides funding for bio-energy research and development.”

The Administration had substantially cut food stamps and other nutrition programs in their proposal for the Farm Bill.  The House Agriculture Committee rejected those cuts.  “The Committee was able to make modest increases in these programs,” said Boyda, “we were able to support popular programs such as the one that allows seniors to purchase locally grown produce at farmer’s markets, without cutting into commodity payments that are critical to the safety net.”

With the completion of the House Agriculture Committee mark-up and passage out of Committee, H.R. 2419, otherwise known as the Farm Bill, will move to the floor of the House for a vote sometime in the coming weeks.