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DES MOINES, Iowa - Now that the election is over, the lame duck session of Congress has a very small window of opportunity to deal with a long to-do list, including issues important to American farmers.
Chuck Hassebrook, executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs, says conservation programs, help for beginning farmers and rural development hang in the balance if Congress can't agree on a Farm Bill.
"If it doesn't get passed between now and the end of the year, then they essentially have to start over – because come January, they have a Congress. They have new senators, new representatives."
Hassebrook says just as important to Iowa and the upper Midwest is extending the wind energy Production Tax Credit.
"At the end of day, for the representatives of this part of the country, I think it's important they stand up and fight for this tax credit, because it's been a real factor in helping bring new opportunities and jobs and revenue to our rural communities."
If the Farm Bill is pushed into 2013, Hassebrook says greater spending cuts are possible. The version passed by the Senate last spring would trim Farm Bill spending by $23.6 billion over 10 years, and the bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee has a $35 billion trim.
