"The Senate Agriculture Committee approved a 2018 farm bill [Wednesday] that veers from the House's more partisan version, spares conservation programs from cuts and opens a door to wider protection for native grasslands nationwide.

After a swifter-than-expected markup, the committee passed the five-year bill on a 20-1 vote. Only Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who urged more stringent limitations on farm program payments, opposed it; committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said his concerns would be addressed as the measure reaches the floor.

"It was a good vote," Roberts told reporters. He said the bill could reach the floor next week, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he wants to finish the bill before the Fourth of July recess.

The farm bill offers wins for industrial hemp, advocates of more thinning in national forests to reduce wildfire risks and for conservation advocates who have opposed cuts in the House version.

It would boost the acreage cap in the Conservation Reserve Program from 24 million acres to 25 million acres and slightly reduce payment rates in the program."

Marc Heller reports for Greenwire June 13, 2018. [2]