The new farm bill is primarily a nutrition program, will bolster the transition to cellulosic ethanol, provides a safety net if the farm economy falters and increases conservation programs.

That’s the view of one of its crafters, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, who stopped at the Minnesota Soybean Growers office in Mankato on Monday.

Coleman, a Republican who serves on the Ag Committee with Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said the $300 billion five-year farm bill was a bipartisan effort with plenty of Minnesota representation. On the House side, Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson heads the Ag Committee.

The conservation programs in the bill have been criticized by some conservation groups because it reduces the target acres in the Conservation Reserve Program from 39 million acres to 32 million acres.

But Coleman said conservation got a $4 billion increase in the bill. “This is the largest funding commitment for conservation ever made by Congress.” Coleman’s aide said the reduction in CRP acres is expected in spite of funding increases because high commodity prices make it more attractive for farmers to plant the land in crops.

Coleman was successful in including language in the bill that will have the government purchase excess sugar imports and use the sugar to produce ethanol. The program, he said, will protect American sugar beet growers from too much imported sugar while increasing ethanol from non-corn sources. The program has $1 billion in funding.

Coleman was among lawmakers who also got funding included for a low-interest loan program that can be used by farmers to build more grain storage. “We’re producing more — we need more storage,” he said.

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