This week, the Senate continues to debate the Farm Bill, also known as the “Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012” (S. 3240).  90 Amendments have been offered thus far to the bill and a number of additional ones will probably be offered before midweek.

Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell are hoping to reach an agreement on amendments.  Reid would like to limit the amendments to those that are germane to the larger bill.  A number of the amendments that have been offered are unrelated and pertain to issues such as defense spending, among other issues.  A protracted debate over non-germane amendments could possibly derail the bill.  The expectation is that they will likely reach an agreement and begin debate amendments tomorrow, June 12.   It is very unlikely that there will be debate on all of the filed amendments during the floor debate.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Lucas has previously said that he hopes to markup a version of the bill in his Committee the week of June 18; however it is very possible that it could slip one week, until June 25.

Do you have a twitter account? You might want to join in a national effort to urge our Senators to move quickly on passing a 2010 Farm Bill. Use the hashtag #FarmBillNow in your twitter discussions on this topic.

If you’d like to address our Illinois senators directly, you can send an @message to them using the @SenatorDurbin and @SenatorKirk twitter handles.

Examples you might consider include:

@SenatorDurbin In 2011, the ag sector exported $132 billion in goods. We need policy certainty to continue success #farmbillnow

@Senator Kirk More than 84% of farm bill-related spending goes to food and nutrition programs serving more than 40 million people #farmbillnow

@SenatorDurbin Passing a farm bill this year will provide certainty to America's farmers that an extension will not  #farmbillnow

@SenatorKirk The Farm Bill is a vital piece of legislation as we prepare to make next year's planting decisions #farmbillnow

@SenatorDurbin Agriculture is a bright spot in America's economy but we need certainty for the future. I urge you to pass a #farmbillnow

@SenatorKirk The 2012 Farm Bill Senate is a vital piece of legislation to America's farmers.  Urge support for  #farmbillnow