Grassley said that senators managing the debate on the floor agreed to include his legislation in the managers amendment, which represents the bill passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee with some additions and changes.
Grassley's measure will help livestock producers develop methane-recovery manure management systems by guaranteeing federal funding for the purchase of anaerobic digesters, the technology used to convert animal waste into electricity.
"This is a perfect example of how the agriculture and energy industries can come together to develop an environmentally friendly renewable resource. We need to think ahead and develop progressive sources of energy," Grassley said. "My initiative would expand the production of renewable energy while cleaning up the environment and helping farmers increase their income."
Grassley said the committee-passed farm bill made manure management systems that are established to protect the environment eligible for funding through the "Environmental Quality Incentives Program," known as EQIP, but did not include an opportunity for the production of "green" electricity generated from hog and cattle waste. Grassley's provision specifies that EQIP payments be made available to producers for cost-sharing on projects that involve implementing anaerobic digesters. The measure is based on a bill Grassley introduced earlier this year to create a start-up incentive and production tax credit for methane gas.
EQIP provides federal dollars for technical, educational and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers for soil, water and other natural resource issues. One goal of the program is aimed at improving farm manure management systems.
Prior to today's agreement, Grassley had planned to offer the renewable energy provision as a separate amendment to the farm bill. Additional amendments Grassley plans to offer to the bill include the following measures: eliminate packer ownership of livestock, limit mandatory arbitration in packer-producer contracts, provide loan deficiency payments (LDPs) to farmers not included in the current farm bill, fix the beneficial interest rule for family farmers who may have sold their grain before they signed up for LDPs, establish reasonable payment limitations and authorize the secretary of agriculture to review federal agency actions affecting family farmers.