The House has approved an amendment from Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and David Scott (D-Ga.) that would remove dairy production limits from the farm bill, according to an article by Pete Kasperowicz and Erik Wasson in the policital newspaper The Hill.
The amendment was approved in a 291-135 vote, withall but 35 Republicans voting for the language. John Boehner (R-Ohio), who as Speaker typically does not vote on legislation, voted for the amendment. Democrats were split 95-100.
According to The Hill:
"Boehner's support for the change put him at odds with Republicans like Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.). Valadao, a dairy farmer, spoke against the amendment on the floor and said the government needs to be able to control production in order to control how much money it spends on the insurance program.
'If government's going to continue to push money in that direction, we have to make sure [dairy producers] don't continue to produce that product that consumers don't want,' he said. "
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) opposed the Goodlatte-Scott amendment. The organization released a statement that said, in part:
“We always knew we faced a difficult challenge in the more urban and suburban-oriented House, especially with House Speaker John Boehner personally committed to defeating the Dairy Security Act.
But we’re hopeful that the House and Senate will eventually find a way to write a compromise farm bill. When they do, we believe the agriculture conferees who develop that final bill will understand the importance of the more balanced approach to dairy policy contained in the Senate-passed farm bill."
Wisconsin's Dairy Business Association , on the other hand, reported that it is pleased with the results.
Laurie Fischer, Dairy Business Association executive director, stated, "The DBA strongly supported and worked for adoption of the Goodlatte/Scott amendment to the Farm Bill because it represented free market reforms to our dairy industry, and we are thrilled with the vote outcome today."
She added, "Had this amendment not been adopted to the Farm Bill it would have not only been more costly, but it would also have added more government intrusion into an already highly regulated dairy industry, and it would have imposed new and costly regulations on the nation's dairy processors."
The Senate bill includes language similar to what the House amendment replaced. PD
—Compiled from various sources
