Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 6/22/18

House Ag Chairman Mike Conaway pulled it off — and fittingly, too, with H.R. 2 passing by a two-vote margin. The Texas Republican succeeded in passing a Republican-only farm bill for the first time in history. The vote was dramatic — it wasn't clear for several minutes whether the bill would pass or fail. Democrats and Republicans logged their votes at almost the same pace, and farm bill watchers held their breath as the vote count stayed at 211-211 for what felt like minutes. When the gavel went down on the 213-211 vote, Republicans in the chamber cheered with a palpable sense of relief.

Eight big flips: House Freedom Caucus support was essential. Twenty Republicans joined with Democrats in opposing the bill, but eight Freedom Caucus members flipped their votes from last month and voted in favor, including caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

Looking toward conference: Once the Senate approves its own farm bill, which is widely expected to happen next week, lawmakers from both chambers will have to confront the difficult task of melding two very different bills in conference. Following Thursday's vote, Conaway acknowledged to reporters that he realizes his entire farm bill wish list won't be featured in the final version. But he's holding onto hope that stricter work requirements for food stamp recipients — the chief policy priority in H.R. 2 (115) — will make it into the conference report. President Donald Trump gave off the impression on Twitterthat he feels that way, too.

One point of unison: Ag leaders certainly agree on one thing: They all want to get the farm bill done fast, because the Sept. 30 deadline will arrive quickly. A missed deadline could be a liability for Republicans heading into the midterms, and no farm-state Democrat wants to campaign without a farm bill with the potential that tit-for-tat trade retaliation will be wreaking further havoc for producers in the fall.

"We're not going to be any smarter in October than we are in August or September. So putting it off is not really useful," Conaway said, adding that House and Senate staffers are likely to begin negotiations as soon as the Senate version clears.

Mending fences: The bitter House farm bill battle left behind a smoldering relationship between the House Ag Committee's leaders. Ranking member Collin Peterson avoided reporters after the vote, issuing a statement that again criticized H.R. 2 as "a bill that simply doesn't do enough for the people it's supposed to serve." That relationship may need to be mended for lawmakers to be able to reach a consensus in conference, as Peterson has said he plans to play for the Senate side during those talks.

Conaway had some predictions as to how he thinks Peterson will approach negotiations, saying: "My guess is Collin will weigh in on behalf of the production of agriculture in the way he has always done." Conaway added that he thinks Democrats also have some provisions in the bill they'll want to protect.

Twitter check: Rachel Millard, the House Agriculture Committee's press secretary, tweeted a photo of Conaway chatting with Rep. Frank Lucas. "Conference war gaming?" she wrote. She also tweeted a pic of Conaway enjoying what appeared to be a small glass of celebratory wine. (Hey, he earned it!)