We could see movement on the Farm Bill as early as next week. According to Politico, House farm bill conferees are being alerted to a likely meeting Monday morning where the Agriculture Committee leadership is hoping to finalize agreement on a conference report that could come to the floor next week.
A Republican staff memo sent out on Friday said “conversations are ongoing and we remain optimistic that we can reach agreement in time to be on the floor next week.” The memo goes on to say, “If we are to be on the floor next week then we will need to file the conference report on Monday. As we see it, your bosses would need to be in town on Monday morning for one of two things: 1) a conference meeting to decide final issues or 2) a GOP conferee meeting to discuss the agreement and collect signatures.”
With the exception of one early public session most of the farm bill negotiations have been left to the top four members of the two Agriculture Committees: House Chairman Frank Lucas and ranking member Collin Peterson and Senate Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and her ranking Republican Senator Thad Cochran.
Politico calls the House memo the clearest public sign that they are working to meet the soft Monday deadline. The situation remains very tentative as the Senate side has yet to make any specific remarks about its plans.