By Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said those discussions are good news, but the fact that they are being conducted behind closed doors is troubling.

"It makes it hard to know how it's going to settle out when we finally get to an ending point," he said.

From what little he has learned about the ongoing Farm Bill negotiations, Nelson said he was disappointed that it doesn't contain a strong payment limitation cap.

"We are going to continue to fight that battle on the floor to one extent or another, even though it's going to be very difficult to get that done, as it has been in the past, with all the opposition, unfortunately, against it," Nelson said.

Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, said that while he gives credit to Peterson and Goodlatte for getting the conference process started, as no progress had been made for several weeks, "The funding levels in their proposal are inadequate to address the challenges in rural America. However, this is a starting point, not an end result.

"The problem from the beginning has been the White House's reluctance to provide adequate funding to address the challenges in rural America, including vital nutrition, conservation, renewable energy and other farm bill programs," Buis said.

He said NFU remains committed to securing adequate funding to complete a new farm bill that includes a permanent disaster program, a strong safety net, a comprehensive competition title, and other priority issues.

"This proposal's lack of a permanent disaster program ignores the single biggest hole in the safety net," he said.

Buis said that to be successful, the White House needs to agree to provide adequate funding.

"The farm bill should not be written to satisfy the negotiators at the WTO, but to address the needs of rural America," he said.

Nelson said he's not worried about any threat of a veto by the White House if the proposed Farm Bill doesn't meet Bush's goals.

"It would be one thing if the White House was offering support along the way," he said.

Nelson said would like to see new Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer take a more active role in the Farm Bill negotiations.

Nelson remains critical of former ag secretary Mike Johanns decision to resign that position to run for the Senate in Nebraska.

"The last secretary left us in the lurch," he said. "Former Secretary Johanns left before the job was done, which is why we are where we are now. We have not had all the parties involved. We have individuals and committee chairs going over to the White House cutting their own deal."

Nelson said the Farm Bill passed the Senate with a vetoproof margin.

"That ought to be, in my opinion, the watermark for what we try to do," he said. "We shouldn't have to worry whether the White House vetoes it or whether they care, because they have just not been supportive."

But, Nelson said, the fact that members of Congress are running over to the White House and "...cut a deal there all the time and cut seperate deals between the House's version and the Senate's version could put us in a position where the March deadline is approaching real fast."

The current Farm Bill expires March 15.