Bush administration outlines farm bill priorities

By Christopher Doering and Charles Abbott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration's top priorities for the new U.S. farm law include tighter crop subsidy limits and so-called local purchase of emergency food aid, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said on Friday.

Also on the list are possible realignment of the ethanol import tariff and a less intrusive sugar program, said Schafer. But he added, "We have a spending issue" over the cost of the farm bill, estimated at more than $285 billion for five years.

In the past couple of days, House and Senate negotiators referred to a "big four" list of administration goals in the final wrap-up of the farm bill without giving details.

"Some things they are asking are problematic," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, during a teleconference. He said farm-bill writers tried to accommodate the White House where possible.

Negotiators are expected to meet on Tuesday to clear the bill for a House vote later in the week. The Senate could send it to the White House by mid-May, seven months overdue.

Farm bills are legislation that govern dozens of programs. The 2008 bill would increase spending on nutrition programs by $10.3 billion over 10 years, land stewardship by $4 billion, specialty crops by $1.35 billion and biofuel development by $1.2 billion.

Crop insurance would be cut by $5.75 billion over 10 years, commodity supports by $1.3 billion and agricultural research by $1.2 billion.

"I think it is the balance of reform that we are looking for," Schafer told Reuters. "In that conversation, we have a handful of items that we think are of utmost importance."