US Senate to take up Farm Bill on October 23; agriculture committee may cut corn ethanol subsidies, increase research spending

The US Farm Bill is taking shape, with the Senate expected to begin debate on October 23. The House Bill passed in July. The Senate passed an overall funding measure on October 5, but the Agriculture Committee under committee chairman Tom Harkin has been working on specific program allocations, which include ethanol tax credits and next-generation biofuel investments. The Senate finance committee previously proposed cutting the ethanol tax credit to 46 cents per gallon.

President Bush has raised the threat of a Farm Bill veto, the first since 1956, over subsidies. Among those in hot dispute is the Brazilian ethanol tariff, which protects US ethanol producers but creates higher prices in the US and retards US ethanol demand growth.

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