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Farm bill fate up in the air

The fate of the farm bill remains very much up in the air.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says a couple of months ago he was confident the new farm bill would be completed by the end of September.

“I became very negative towards getting a five-year farm bill in September (and) that’s been reinforced now getting into October.”

On a call with ag reporters Tuesday morning, the Iowa Republican suggested a one or two-year extension of the current farm bill is increasingly likely and said the only real negative to that is no change to reference prices as input costs continue to rise.

“And corn at $4.50, where you don’t make any money, then I think that’s the downfall of having a one-year extension as opposed to a five-year program.”

The current farm bill expired at the end of September, but a continuing resolution passed over the weekend will maintain program funding.