Roy Blunt: “I think our conferees worked hard, did a tremendous job, kept this on focus, and my belief is that it was as likely as…”

“I think our conferees worked hard, did a tremendous job, kept this on focus, and my belief is that it was as likely as not that we could have wound up at the end of that conference without a farm bill if it had not been for the great dedication of the House conferees to make this happen. This is a good bill. It sets the stage for several years of agriculture stability, provides a much-needed safety net that was not present in the last farm bill, it continues to decouple payments, allows updating of acreage, and does good things in dairy. More importantly, it establishes the rules and does that early enough that it may even have some positive impact this year. We all worked hard to get this bill out. Of course, the House passed a bill months ago. Again, our conferees, the chairman and the ranking member, as they bring this bill to the floor, have a lot to be proud of. Farm families in America have a lot to look to with appreciation for the job we have done, the job I believe we will do today as we pass this bill, and I look forward to its implementation.”