The 2014 farm bill is set to expire next Sunday, leaving numerous programs in limbo while congressional negotiators continue struggling to reach agreement on a range of issues.

 

The four lead farm bill negotiators - the chairmen and senior Democrats of the House and Senate Agriculture committees - talked by phone last week, and their aides talked through the week.

 

A GOP member of the House-Senate conference committee, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, said last week that she was less optimistic that negotiators could agree on a new bill this year. “We could be looking at a one-year extension,” she said.

 

 

But the House Agriculture Committee’s ranking Democrat, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, said Friday that he was encouraged by progress that he said was made during the week. “We’re really at a point here where I can see we can get this thing done,” Peterson said in an interview with the Adams on Agriculture radio show. “There are still some compromises that need to be made, but I’m optimistic."

 

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