The House Agriculture Committee's top Democrat yesterday brushed aside the possibility of there being an extension of the entire farm bill when it expires this fall.

Ranking member Collin Peterson said that -- if anything -- there would be an extension of certain conservation programs that will run out of money at the end of September. But the Minnesota Democrat said most of the bill's largest programs, including commodity subsidies and food stamps, will continue beyond the bill's expiration date.

"There's no crisis here, other than it would be nice to get this done in the regular order and get this settled," Peterson said. "I think the biggest thing for farmers is the ones that have got a drought would like to know if there's going to be some help, and the people in general would like to know what the farm program's going to be before they go into next year."

Peterson said the measure would be wrapped up by the end of September.

"This is going to work out, somehow or another. I'm still optimistic we're going to get this done by Sept. 30," Peterson said. "Done. Signed by the president."

But not everyone's as optimistic. The bill's future is murky, as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) hasn't committed to bringing the measure to the floor for debate before members leave for their August recess.

The Senate passed its version of the bill last month, while the House Agriculture Committee two weeks ago approved its version on a 35-11 vote.

The House bill would cut $35 billion in direct spending, partly by reducing $6.1 billion from conservation programs over the next 10 years and eliminating mandatory funding for the energy title (E&E Daily, July 12).

It is also unclear whether the House will move first next week on disaster aid to farmers suffering from the Midwest drought and how that would connect to the farm bill, House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said yesterday.

"Apparently, management's thinking about ways to try to address the disaster situation," Lucas said, referring to Boehner. "I'd like some clarification on what I'm picking up through the grapevine."

Peterson said Boehner has been cooperative and, without naming names, pointed to other members of the Republican leadership who are holding up debate on the $960 billion legislation. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has not been receptive to bringing a farm bill to the floor.

Peterson said other Republican members are starting to question why the bill has not been brought to the floor two weeks after it passed committee. He also said the drought that is currently crippling the Midwest is starting to make its way into conversations in Washington, D.C.

"It seems like all of a sudden things are heating up a little bit. I'm not sure what that means," Peterson said.

A group of conservative organizations yesterday wrote Boehner urging him to "resist" calls from special interests using the drought to push passage of the farm bill. The groups, which included Taxpayers for Common Sense, Citizens Against Government Waste and Americans for Prosperity, said the bill would lock taxpayers into a "trillion dollars worth of bad agriculture policy."

"The challenging, yet predictable, drought conditions across much of the country must not be misused to expand an overly-generous federal role in agriculture," the letter to Boehner said.