<I>Elane Dickenson/Chieftain</I>

The twists and turns in producing a 2007 farm bill are sure to last at least another month, thanks to the recent extension approved by Congress. It is growing increasingly likely that the legislation could be put over for at least another year if lawmakers can’t complete work to reconcile their differences between the Senate and House versions.

President Bush last week said he would support a one-year extension of the 2002 Farm Bill.

“If a final agreement is not reached by April 18, I call on Congress to extend current law for at least one year,” said Bush in a statement. “While long-term extension of current law is not the desired outcome, I believe the government has a responsibility to provide America’s farmers and ranchers with a timely and predictable farm program – not multiple short-term extensions of current law.”

The president, sensing that progress is being made, is prudent to allow more time.

Negotiators are still wrangling over the tough issues. The biggest is how to fund the various programs without a tax increase that Bush strongly opposes.

There appears to be agreement to work for a farm bill that is approximately $10 billion over baseline, but the devil is always in the details.

The president has also insisted on significant farm program reforms, including stricter payment limits, in order to gain his signature on a new bill.

The president’s support for a one-year extension should not lessen the heat on lawmakers and congressional staff during their spring break. A one-year extension would give certainty to farm program crop producers who have already embarked on spring planting.

That’s understandable. But the longer extension leaves specialty crop farmers without the one thing they have strongly lobbied for – the certainty of equity for the nation’s fruit, vegetable and nut growers.

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 specialty crop organizations, called the recently approved extension a “missed opportunity.”

The alliance has made a good case that more funds should be devoted to nutrition programs, specialty crop research and block grants.

There is significant specialty crop funding in the Senate bill as it now stands – $2.2 billion over five years. The House bill is less generous, but it still earmarks about $1.6 billion in specialty crop dollars over five years. Specialty crop supporters fear that momentum for their farm bill interests will wane if negotiations are strung out.

Kevin Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of the Pear Bureau Northwest, told Capital Press last month that an extension of time was preferable to complete new farm policy than merely extending the current bill for another five years.

“We don’t want to go that route,” Moffitt said. “An extension to hammer out details might be the best thing, but we certainly want to see a new farm bill with the specialty crop numbers in there.”

No doubt many on Capitol Hill expressed a sigh of relief when more time was granted to deal with a 2007 farm bill.

President Bush has given congressional negotiators a way forward if they cannot hammer out the final details by next month. Bush is willing to let his successor sign the final bill.

Let’s hope it doesn’t take another year and a new president to finally get this done.

Elaine Shein is based in Salem. E-mail: eshein@capitalpress.com.