Farm Bill extension leaves many in the industry unhappy

Dive Summary:

While most industry experts were hoping for an extension with bated breath, many are now saying the current legislation is insufficient as far as long term solutions go.
The bill, which regulates much of the agricultural industry including several important subsidies, was extended until September of this year.
The president of the National Farmer's Union has argued that the U.S. government has turned its back on the industry as a whole.

From the article:

Congress extended the 2008 Farm Bill through September as part of its fiscal cliff negotiations, but the U.S. agriculture industry isn't pleased.

Several industry groups cited the uncertainty of not having a new five-year bill and vented lawmakers are putting agricultural interests on the backburner.

"An extension represents a short sighted, temporary fix that ultimately provides inadequate solutions that will leave our farmers and ranchers crippled by uncertainty," declared Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, in a statement Tuesday. "The legislation that passed fails to provide disaster aid for farmers or necessary support for our dairy industry, yet continues unjustifiable direct payments."

The extension was expected to avoid a possible doubling of milk prices, yet the National Milk Producers Federation CEO Jerry Kozak contended the plan "amounts to shoving farmers over the dairy cliff without providing any safety net below."

In a statement, Pam Johnson of the National Corn Growers Association asserted "Congress' failure to act pushes agriculture aside hampering farmers' ability to make sound business decisions for the next five years."

Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Senate Agricultural Committee, vowed to work on new legislation in 2013. In a statement, she blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for insisting "on a partial extension that reforms nothing, provides no deficit reduction and hurts many areas of our agricultural economy."

In June, the Senate passed a version of the five-year, $500 billion legislation, which covers such areas as agriculture, conservation, forestry policy and nutrition. A bill passed by the House Agricultural Committee would have saved more than $35 billion in mandatory funding, repealed or consolidated more than 100 programs and cut billions in discretionary spending authority. But the bill never made it to the full House for a vote.