The 2001 farm bill, which passed the U.S. House today by a vote of 291 to 120, will direct federal agriculture policy over the next 10 years. It includes funding for farm commodity programs, conservation programs, and rural development programs. The bill will replace the current farm bill, which was written in 1996 and will expire in 2002. 

"After years of discussion with farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and others on how the current farm bill could work better, we've created a bill that will do a better job at helping producers of the nation's food supply make ends meet during a trying time for the industry," Lucas said. 

As chairman of the agriculture subcommittee that addresses conservation, Lucas held hearings in Washington as well as Oklahoma to learn what producers and conservationists wanted in their next farm bill.  As a result, Lucas increased the funding for conservation programs by $16 billion.

"Through those extensive hearings, these groups agreed that the conservation programs are working, but they aren't being fully funded," Lucas said. "We've answered their concerns by increasing the funding for conservation programs by 80 percent."

Lucas said his funding increases, that are included in the farm bill, increase funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, from $150 million a year to $1.2 billion per year. The program matches producer dollars with federal funds to pay for projects on their land to preserve soil or water.

"In the past, we've left producers sitting on an EQIP waiting list because the program wasn't fully funded. These funds will help producers conserve the land that provides them their livelihood," Lucas said. "If a program is working, it just makes sense to provide the necessary funds to let all producers take part."

The bill maintains maximum planting flexibility while providing counter-cyclical protection to help farmers weather adverse market conditions.  The bill will also retain the fixed-decoupled payments, as well as the marketing loan program. Counter-cyclical payments are triggered when a crop's price, adjusted for the fixed decoupled payment, is below the target price.  The target price for wheat will be $4.04.  

Lucas and other members of the House defeated an amendment Wednesday that could have derailed the farm bill entirely. The amendment to the bill that would have taken money from commodity farmers to pay for environmental programs. 

The amendment, authored by Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, was defeated by a vote of 200-226.  The Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Rep. Larry Combest, would have stopped debate on the bill if the amendment had passed. Lucas voted against the Kind amendment.