Washington, D.C. - "A sound compromise that no one is satisfied with, but nevertheless represents real reform." - From Rep. Collin Peterson's (D-MN) opening statement today on the 2007 Farm Bill.

The first House Agriculture Committee markup session on the 2007 Farm Bill began with Rep. Collin Peterson's opening statement, followed by everyone else's. Peterson said that Americans were fortunate to enjoy low, stable food prices, and food that meets the highest standards of quality and safety.

No markup, or voting on specific amendments, actually took place during today's session. The last changes to the legislation weren't made until late last night, and today was the first chance most members got to see the final versions, though Rep. Peterson said that the changes were minor in comparison to the version released a little over a week ago.

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A couple days ago, the New York Times posted an article about the debate on farm subsidies, leaving readers with a rhetorical query about whether substantial progress was going to be made on cutting them. Umm, probably not. Unless, that is, every single member of the House Committee on Agriculture gets hundreds of phone calls from their constituents asking for caps on farm subsidies pronto. And even then, frankly, the odds are slim.

Consider that the Bush administration's secretary of agriculture got accused of instigating class warfare for some of his stances against farm subsidies, though it must be granted, there are issues with the Bush administration's proposals, as well.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman, Rep. Collin Peterson has yet to publish his revised Farm Bill, but when he does, he says there will be two of them. One will include policies with budget allocations, the other will include policies that will only be funded if offsets are found. Which is to say, they probably won't be funded. My mentors at the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition have put together an action alert highlighting four agricultural sustainablility policies that should go in the real Farm Bill, the one that will be funded. They include support for new farmers and ranchers, conservation incentives for working farmlands, improving local food distribution infrastructure, and support for transitions to organic and sustainable farming.

Sally Jo Sorensen is a writer and researcher who lives in rural Minnesota. She blogs as Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie.

On May 23, the Detroit Lakes Journal Online  published "Minnesota's wild rice now has protection," a guest column by White Earth Land Recovery Project founding director and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) activist Winona LaDuke.

LaDuke's column explained the complicated political process through which Anishinaabe people had worked to protect wild rice from genetic modification. They had met with some success:

On May 8, 2007, Governor Pawlenty approved the Omnibus Environment and Natural Finance Bill (H 2410/S 2096): Included in this bill was protection for wild rice. Andrea Hanks, the Wild Rice Campaign coordinator for the White Earth Land Recovery Project expressed great relief that the bill had passed, thanking all of those who supported it, "Protection for Wild Rice has been a long time coming for Anishinaabeg communities, many people on all levels contributed to moving this legislation, the tribes of Minnesota, tribal leaders, allied organizations, citizens and legislators, I'm thankful for the help and support that was given."

Spurred initially by the work at the University of Minnesota to map the DNA sequence of wild rice, the Anishinaabeg became concerned about possible genetic modification of wild rice in 2002. Anishinaabeg concerns were heightened when scientists revealed that ancient varieties of corn, deep in Mexico, had been contaminated by genetically engineered seed varieties hundreds of miles away.

The possibility to expand on that success may be threatened by language in the new Farm Bill, and this language could spell trouble for Minnesota Democrats in 2008. Minnesota is home to Ag chair Collin Peterson, whose district includes White Earth.

I missed the first week of House Ag's markup of the farm bill, what with the old laptop going phut, and battling Vista on the new one.

But - there's every indication that the bill's progress through Congress will be a thoroughly educational experience.

Sally Jo Sorensen is a writer and researcher who lives in rural Minnesota. She blogs as Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie.

Although the National Farmers Union and a coalition of 63 nationwide groups had asked Ag Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry chair Leonard Boswell to add language from the Competitive and Fair Agricultural Markets Act of 2007 (H.R. 2135) to the mark-up of the livestock title of the 2007 Farm Bill, their hopes were dashed Thursday.

Boswell submitted, then withdrew, the amendment.

Boswell's subcommittee's mark-up echoed a meeting earlier in the week by the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research. Groups hoping that an amendment restoring funding for the Conservation Security Program to the conservation title were disappointed. With Thursday's markup, progressive and grassroot efforts for meaningful reform of the Farm Bill remain stalled.

Much of the initial disappointment on Tuesday can be laid at the feet of House Ag chair Collin Peterson, who had announced on Monday--one day before the conservation subcommittee markup hearing--that he had allocated all available reserves and that any amendments made within the subcommittees would have to be budget neutral.

By Thursday, the Minnesota Blue Dog Democrat changed his mind.

Sally Jo Sorensen is a writer and researcher who lives in rural Minnesota.

Freshman Congressman Tim Walz greets shoppers at the St. Peter Food Co-op on a gorgeous Saturday morning in the idyllic college town on the Minnesota River. It's another Saturday Store Stop: Walz routinely visits grocery stores across his sprawling rural district on weekends. His presence at a food co-op Saturday reflects the changing dynamic of food politics in America. Even in small towns in the heart of the Midwest's Corn Belt, consumers are seeking out more healthful, environmentally friendly, locally grown food. Now over 25 years old, the co-op is the established face of a movement.

The tensions in creating farm policy are also writ large in Washington D.C. this coming week for the upstart Walz, who took the district in a surprise victory last fall against six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht. Walz sits on the House Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research, which will mark-up the draft of the conservation section of the Farm Bill on Tuesday.  As Kerry Trueman notes below in an action alert, the section slated for Tuesday's markup session has opened a new front in ag and environmental circles.  Minnesota's First Congressional District may be ground zero in the battle.

In a district that borders Tom Harkin's Iowa on the south, and Rep. Collin Peterson's MN-07 in the northwest, Walz has quite literally been placed in the middle of a food fight between the Senate and House ag committee chairs. The House Farm Bill proposal effectively guts Senate Ag Committee Chair Tom Harkin's signature farm conservation legislation, the Conservation Security Program, by shifting most of its funding to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Wetlands Reserve Program.

Which way will Walz sway?

A CQ piece from three hours ago ledes thusly:

Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, said today that markups will begin the week of May 21 on at least three titles of the 2007 farm bill.

The bill will be huge, contain more corporate welfare than you can shake a stick at, and Peterson wants to deliver a fait accompli to the House:

Peterson reiterated his committee's primacy in the process. "People are misguided if they think the farm bill will be written on the floor . . . it would be a recipe for chaos," he said.

And, though the squeals provoked would be deafening, there's nothing to stop that happening: a closed rule, perhaps even without a motion to recommit.

Now, the Senate will be a whole 'nother story, natch.

But once provisions get added to bills, they're a lot harder (even in the Senate) to get out than to keep out.

The MO proposed by Peterson only makes it more necessary for those of us trying to keep tabs on what's going on (Matt has taken the lead on this) to work with lobbies that are on our side to use their contacts not only to find out what's going on generally, but for copies of legislative texts as they're made available and for help in locating where the bodies are buried - the stinkiest of them, at any rate.

My earlier thoughts on this area from Tuesday.

I've been writing a fair amount recently about the alignment of forces in the House that look poised for conflict after the (we're supposing) Dem win next week.

The kerfuffle over the remarks of Ellen Tauscher a day or two back and other noises off suggesting that the Blue Dogs will be making their presence felt have added to the expectancy.

Today, we get the Post suggesting not only that it'll shortly be seconds out in the Hoyer/Murtha fight for Majority Whip, but that Rahmbo is supposedly contemplating trying to take down Caucus chairman Clyburn.