Maybe we’ll finally get a new farm bill.

Perhaps soon.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the farm bill, which now goes to the Senate for approval, perhaps as early as next week. The final margin was a surprisingly comfortable 251-166. The margin reflected the success of intense late negotiations in hammering out a compromise on the final controversial items, as well as exhaustion on all sides, as the combatants recognized that it was time to either cut a deal or accept the likelihood of a long-term extension. Washington, D.C., observers expect that the President will sign the measure once it is passed.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s export promotion programs – the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development program– had been reauthorized at full funding levels in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, and were therefore not among the items in contention in the conference.

Maybe soon.

We’ll let you know.