I spoke with Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner yesterday here in New Orleans. Conner is still threatening a presidential veto of the current farm bill proposals, but likely more for the financial status than the policy.

Conner made it clear from his speech to the group that President Bush will not stand for any tax increase for any reason. The farm bill is included in that mandate.

It will be important for the conference committee, which will include the influence of the finance committee and budget committee to get the dollars in line before they settle in for policy.

If you remember, House Ag Committee Chairman Colin Peterson actually wrote two farm bills. One that matched policy to the baseline spending by CBO and the other that included additonal programs if and when additional revenue was secured.

The conferees face the same challenge of matching programs with revenue.

There's plenty more to come from New Orleans this week.