Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/31/18

After many other dates have come and gone, the Senate version may be out soon. The farm bill could be introduced as early as June 6, Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts said in his home state of Kansas on Wednesday, although it may be an overly ambitious schedule.

Roberts said he'd like to send the bill to the floor just one week after getting it through the committee, potentially June 12, but cautioned that date may be "a moving target," reports Pro Ag's Liz Crampton.

Speaking at a farm in Manhattan, Kan., with fellow GOP Sen. Jerry Moran and USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, Roberts said he has a "clear path" to bringing the bill to the bill because Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer promised he won't file cloture on the bill — a procedural hurdle that could delay consideration. "Now, that's amazing," Roberts joked. "This is a time where if a jackrabbit hopped on the Senate floor, Chuck Schumer would either shoot it or file cloture on it."

A spokesman for Schumer said the lawmaker has said he wouldn't force a cloture vote if Roberts and ranking member Debbie Stabenow reached an agreement on the farm bill.

Staying far away from House measure: Roberts reiterated that the House version of the farm bill could not pass in the Senate because he needs 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. The House version, which has yet to pass, is still relying on solely Republican support whenever a second vote comes up.

Roberts reiterated that the Senate version won't be proposing any major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also know as food stamps. The committee might look into "some efficiencies we can make as to how that program will be administered" but won't attempt a major overhaul, he said.

A brewing regional conflict: In other titles, Roberts said the legislation will "fix the ARC program to some degree," referring to the Agriculture Risk Coverage program that triggers payments to commodity farmers when the average crop revenue in their county drops below a guaranteed level. But he shot down any proposal that would benefit one region of farmers over the other.

"That doesn't cut it with me. Look guys, we either hang together or hang separately," he said, adding that "there isn't any commodity here that is going to be hurt by the Senate bill."

The comments may be aimed at a bill, S. 2749 (115), introduced by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). It would benefit the more than 90 percent of farmers growing corn and soybeans who signed up for ARC, primarily in the Midwest, in part by changing the formula for calculating subsidies.

For those Southern growers of cotton, peanuts, rice and canola who signed up for the Price Loss Coverage program — which sends out payments when prices drop below reference prices set by Congress — they would likely receive lower subsidies under the Senate bill. That's because reference prices couldn't exceed a historical 10-year average.

Midwestern might: While Roberts appears to be taking a hard stance against certain aspects of the Thune-Brown bill, the majority of Senate Agriculture Committee members represent Midwestern states, including top Democrat Stabenow, who's from Michigan.