(Radio Iowa) – The new Farm Bill that has been delayed multiple times is one of the key topics of discussion at the Iowa Farm Progress Show that’s going on in Boone.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he still feels it can get done yet this year. “Here’s what I’m optimistic about. I’m optimistic about the people who are involved in this process understanding the importance of it, of getting it done, certainly before the end of the year,” Vilsack says. “That’s important, because if it doesn’t get done before the end of the year, or if there’s not an extension before the end of the year, then there’s some ramifications that are pretty dire.”

The former Iowa Governor says both sides have to take the same approach. “To get it done, I think everyone in the process needs to be practical. And by that, I mean you have to take a look at what actual resources are indeed available for any new programs or expansions of existing programs, and try to fit whatever you’re proposing within the real cost,” he says.

Iowa Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra says increasing prices paid under crop insurance is a key reason to get the bill done this year. “You’ve got corn at three-dollars and 60 cents, you got soybeans at nine dollars and 40 or 50 cents, whatever it might be. I mean, it’s the killer,” he says. “We’ve got to increase those revenue prices, and we got to make sure that crop insurance is there and available, because we know it’s going to be used this year.”

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack (photo from Ag Secretary’s office)

House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania also discussed the Farm Bill in Boone. “I think it’s urgent that we do that this year. I to me, I have an urgency. I want to do it before the election. I think would that that’s really important. It’s important for our farm families,” Thompson says. He says the bill is being held up in the Senate. “Well, part of it is, you know, the Senate just has 90 pages of ideas. Some of them are great ideas, and they dovetail nicely with what we pass. Some of them are not so good ideas,” Thompson says. He says with only ideas, the lead senator is unsure if there are 60 votes to bring the bill forward.

(Thanks to Brent Barnett of the Brownfield Network.)