UPDATE: House GOP drops farm bill extension

Update from SAF:

Late last week, the House voted 223-197 to provide $383 million in emergency drought assistance to farmers and ranchers, delaying work on the 2012 Farm Bill (which would also have provided disaster assistance) until at least September -- and perhaps longer. On Tuesday, House Republican leaders pulled even the proposed one-year extension of the Farm Bill from consideration, choosing instead to move just the drought-aid package to the House floor before the August recess.

The current farm bill, which expires at the end of September, includes special, and very valuable, programs for the floral and nursery industry, defined as “specialty crops” by the USDA.

“The Farm Bill’s research, pest and disease control, and marketing assistance programs alone provide well over $150 million annual funding for specialty crops – and all of that is at risk,” said SAF’s Lin Schmale. “Thanks are due to all of our members who have written to Congress in support of this bill.  It’s vitally important to the entire industry. We will certainly keep up our strong efforts toward passage.”

Passage of a five-year Farm Bill is also important because it provides the continued framework for most of the U.S. agricultural and rural development programs. Lenders will likely be reluctant to extend even operating loans to farmers without the assurance of a five-year bill.