Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/23/18

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows continues to be coy about where his members stand on the farm bill. He told reporters Tuesday that he can't guarantee the caucus will band together and deliver the votes in favor of the sweeping farm policy legislation if (or even after) GOP leadership schedules a vote on a conservative immigration measure from Rep. Bob Goodlatte. That was the demand from the conservative coalition that led to many caucus members voting against the farm bill last week.

Acknowledging the Freedom Caucus' leverage, Meadows said: "I do know that based on the whip count the other day, that had we worked out our differences on immigration there would have been enough to go from 'no' to 'yes' to pass it."

Raising the issue of farm subsidies: Meadows added that it was "problematic" that a Republican Congress isn't addressing which farmers should be eligible to receive commodity support payments from USDA. Meadows offered an amendment aimed at limiting subsidies, but it failed to make it to floor debate.

"I thought my amendment would do the best job of making sure that farmers get subsidies and not big corporations," Meadows said. "With that being said, listen, you win some you lose some." Still, Meadows said his amendment not getting tacked onto the farm bill is "not the litmus test for supporting the bill."

Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley plans to back a provision on the Senate side going after loopholes in farm subsidies but said on Tuesday the fact that the House won't have a parallel provision weakens the effort by Congress to rein in large commodity handouts.

Conaway staying out of it: House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, for his part, told POLITICO on Tuesday he's keeping out of the political wrangling. "We're really just on the sidelines - very interested - on the sidelines."

Asked if he thinks the Freedom Caucus will indeed deliver the votes for the farm bill after getting a vote on Goodlatte, Conaway seemed a little iffy: "Obviously, the Freedom Caucus folks have sold leadership on that idea." He did note, however, that several lawmakers suspected of being part of the caucus voted for the bill on Friday, suggesting there are divisions within the group.

The moderate flank: The Texas Republican shed some light on why a number of moderate Republicans voted against the legislation, saying that they were "anxious" about some of the SNAP changes in the bill -- such as removing broad-based categorical eligibility as an option for states, which makes it easier for low-income families to qualify in some cases.

A vote ASAP: Conaway said he's lobbying for the round 2 of the farm bill to be voted on immediately after GOP leadership sorts out the immigration issue on the floor.

Leadership still sure: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is determined to pass the farm bill next month. The Louisiana Republican also placed some blame on Democrats for why the farm bill flopped.

"When you break down the votes, every single Democrat voted against that bill not because they don't support the farm components, but every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill because it actually put work requirements in place for welfare," Scalise said at a press conference.