Congress extends farm bill another week

Washington D.C. — Congress passed another one-week extension of the farm bill today.

The 2002 law should have expired last September, but Congress and President Bush have been extending it while negotiations over a new farm bill drag on.

Congress traditionally rewrites farm legislation every six years. Among other things, the bill includes funding for crop insurance and subsidies, as well as biofuel development, land stewardship and food stamps.

U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., heads the House Agriculture committee, which has been deadlocked for weeks with its Senate counterpart, chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Harkin said today the committees are "very close" to reaching a deal. There are several sticking points to reaching agreement on a new farm bill.

MPR's Tom Crann talked with Alan Guebert, who writes a weekly agriculture column that appears in newspapers around the country, including some in rural Minnesota.