Source: Lynda Waddington, IOWA INDEPENDENT, 11/2/11

Members of the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan agriculture appropriations bill Tuesday as part of a larger appropriations process that will soon be merged with an earlier offering by the U.S. House.
The 2012 fiscal year package, which was a three-part “minibus,” included appropriations for several departments and agencies in addition to agriculture — commerce, justice, science, transportation and housing and urban development. 

For more of this story, click here.