Congress Back to Work on Farm Bill Legislation

Oct 21, 2013

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

After a 16 day partial federal U.S. government shutdown, Congress is moving forward on business, which includes the farm bill. Talks are expected to start up again on Monday and continue for the rest of the week.

The 2008 Farm Bill extension expired Sept. 30, with no new bill currently in place. There are several different components to the bill, including crop insurance and perhaps the most contentious, food assistance - which Republicans and Democrats have yet to find a compromise.

It comes down to numbers. The Republicans advocate to cut food stamps by $40 billion, while Democrats propose a $4.5 billion cut. Let’s see if the House and Senate can reconcile its food and farm issues to draft a new Farm Bill law this week.

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.