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Both
houses of Congress voted Thursday to extend current farm
legislation for two more weeks to May 16 as agriculture
committee conferees continue to try to hammer out new legislation
that must pass Administration objections to become law.
Last week farm bill negotiators said they reached agreement
on the fundamental tenets of new five-year legislation and
Bush agreed to a one-week extension that was set to expire
today.
Earlier this week, however USDA Deputy Secretary Charles
Conner said the proposal "does not move Congress closer
to a farm bill that the president would sign."
Packer ownership
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
reportedly told members of the National Association of Farm
Broadcasting at a conference in Washington the provision
in the Senate version of the bill that would limit livestock
ownership by packers to 10 days before slaughter was still
subject to debate.
"It will fail," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin
Peterson (D-Minn.) was quoted as telling the group.
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