Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 11/13/18

House and Senate Agriculture leaders are hoping to strike a bipartisan deal in time to pass a final farm bill before January, but they'll need to compete for floor time and legislative oxygen with plenty of other big-ticket issues. The Senate is expected to churn through additional nominations, both parties and chambers will hold leadership elections — and then there's the annual year-end spending showdown.

— Congress still needs to fund large portions of the government by Dec. 7, when a temporary stopgap expires. There are just 12 joint legislative days until then, and a partisan struggle over funds for President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall is sure to complicate spending talks.

"I'd like to see the president sit down with the Republican and Democratic leadership and talk about immigration reform," Patrick Leahy, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Monday. "... If it's a wall or nothing, then they're going to get nothing."

— Additional tax legislation could be on the agenda: The Senate has yet to take up the House-passed "Tax Cuts 2.0" legislative package, which would permanently establish parts of the 2017 GOP tax code rewrite. Technical fixes to that overhaul, H.R. 1 (115), and a separate extension of expired temporary tax breaks, known as "extenders," could also be on deck. (The slate of extenders includes biofuel tax credits.)

All of that leaves farm bill negotiators with little wiggle room. To shuttle a final bill through both chambers, they'll need to reach a deal quickly, but there's little indication they're close to resolving some of the biggest sticking points.

House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway and ranking member Collin Peterson huddled Monday for less than 30 minutes, our Helena Bottemiller Evich and Liz Crampton report. Asked if any decisions were made, Conaway only said, "We're still having conversations."

— Comparisons to a stranded turtle are never good: Going into the meeting, Conaway said negotiations were moving at the pace of a "turtle on the fence post — legs are going 900 miles an hour, but you can't make any progress."

— House offer? The Texas Republican suggested prior to the meeting that he and Peterson are looking to "figure out a way to get to a House offer." That would require a new degree of cooperation between the duo.
Conaway was upbeat heading into the meeting, but all signs pointed to a frosty face-to-face: he and Peterson both left in a hurried manner. Conaway gave terse answers in a brief interview with Liz. At one point, Conaway, who exited first, exchanged a stern look with Peterson, who didn't offer comment.

Mark it down: Conaway confirmed he'll keep the top Republican spot on House Ag, staying on as ranking member. He also acknowledged that the dynamics were shifting, with Democrats set to take over the House in 2019 and Peterson expected to become chairman.