


Dairy subsidies under the 2008 farm bill expire on Monday and without a bill in place, prices paid by the government to farmers would revert back to higher 1949 levels. Economists have warned the price consumers pay for milk could double as a result. Wheat and other commodities would be impacted later in 2013.

"The lack of action by the House Republican leadership has put us in a situation where we risk serious damage to our economy unless we pass a temporary extension," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.


Congress appeared to be on track to pass a new five-year $500 billion farm bill last summer. The full Senate passed a bill in June and the House Agriculture Committee approved its own measure a month later. But progress stalled amid concerns by House GOP Speaker John Boehner that the chamber did not have enough votes to pass either the bill backed by the House Agriculture Committee or the one passed by the Senate.

Democrats and Republicans have disagreed about where spending cuts should be made in agricultural programs and how big they should be, with the biggest divide found in nutrition programs. Some Republicans have called for bigger cuts to nutrition programs while Democrats said the proposed reductions went too far.

"It is not perfect -- no compromise ever is -- but it is my sincere hope that it will pass the House and Senate and be signed by the President by Jan. 1," Frank Lucas, R-Okla., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement.

In recent weeks, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has ratcheted up pressure on Congress and top House Republicans to get a bill done while warning that a failure to pass a new law could send the healthy farm economy into turmoil and boost uncertainty for farmers and ranchers.

"The reality is we're still working, and there is some indication from Speaker (Boehner) that he has some reluctance," Vilsack, the former Iowa governor, told reporters earlier this month. "I would hope he would get over that reluctance. I would hope he would recognize the importance of this to the country, particularly in rural America."