US House extends old Farm Bill until April 25 as new bill approaches completion

The US House of Representatives voted to extend the existing Farm Bill until April 25 to give lawmakers more time to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the new Farm Bill, which includes tax breaks and incentives for biofuels. The current law expires on April 18. President Bush has stated that he will not sign legislation extending the current Farm Bill for another year.

The Farm Bill was passed by the Senate in in the fall, while the House version passed in July. Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Tom Harkin said the bill would earmark $1.3 billion for biofuels over the next five years.

The Senate passed an overall funding measure on October 5, but the Agriculture Committee under committee chairman Tom Harkin had been working on specific program allocations until November, which include ethanol tax credits and next-generation biofuel investments. The Senate finance committee previously proposed cutting the ethanol tax credit to 46 cents per gallon.

President Bush has raised the threat of a Farm Bill veto, the first since 1956, over subsidies. Among those in hot dispute is the Brazilian ethanol tariff, which protects US ethanol producers but creates higher prices in the US and retards US ethanol demand growth.

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