Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE 7/23/18

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are expected to appoint members of the farm bill conference committee this week, should the upper chamber clear some procedural hurdles on the floor. During the last farm bill debate, 12 senators — seven from the majority party and five from the minority — were appointed to the committee, which is tasked with reconciling differences with the House version.

These are the final steps before farm bill negotiations can be formally kicked off, although after this week, House lawmakers take off for the August recess. House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway has said that even though he won't be in Washington, he will stay in touch with the staff members working on reconciling the two versions of legislation. McConnell has canceled most of the August recess for the Senate side, so the upper chamber's members should be in town for much of the discussions.