USDA may OK farm bill extension with conditions

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Agriculture officials are likely to recommend that President George W. Bush approve a one-week extension of the current farm bill, if lawmakers make "significant progress" in brokering a new law, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said on Wednesday.

"If, in fact, we can make some significant progress today and tomorrow ... then I think we can recommend to the president to sign a week's extension," Schafer said at a food aid conference in Kansas City.

On Wednesday, the House passed a one-week extension to the current law, and senators were expected to take up the same measure later in the day.

That reprieve, if approved by the White House, would give lawmakers more time to finally strike a deal on the umbrella agriculture law, which is months behind schedule. A short-term extension of some agricultural programs expires on Friday, creating an informal deadline for action.

After a one-month extension, the Bush administration had said it wouldn't approve any further short-term measures for the current law, and would prefer instead a longer-term extension, an idea rejected by Congress.

But Schafer said the administration "can live with" another one- or two-week extension, if certain conditions were met.

"What we need to see is an agreement on an overall spending level, an agreement on sources of funding, and an agreement on what they're going to propose together on reforms," Schafer said.

(Reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Walter Bagley)