Farm Bill Talks Start Up Again Next Week [Oct. 30]

Oct 25, 2013

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Negotiations on the nation’s five-year farm bill are expected to resume next week. Members of the House and Senate agriculture committees are expected to reconcile the differences between the two competing versions of the proposed legislation.

The 1,000-page legislation covers food and farm policies. Progress on reaching a new farm bill has been stalled due to partisan divides over cuts to the food stamp program. Lawmakers from the two chambers will reconvene Wednesday, Oct. 30 to begin negotiating the bill.

While the two bills propose similar reforms to the farm program portion of the bill, such as eliminating direct payments, there are a number of obstacles that need to be overcome. Perhaps the biggest difference is cuts to the food stamp program. The Republican-controlled House has proposed a $40 billion cut to the nutrition program over 10 years, while the Democrat-led Senate propose a $4.5 billion cut.

Congress has until Jan. 1 to pass a new farm bill, otherwise parts of the policy will revert back to the 1940s law.

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.