Senators vote on Farm Bill amendments

Senate leaders are growing closer to finishing work on Farm Bill legislation.

Amendment No. 3666 offered by a senator of Montana, which would have limited packer ownership and alternative marketing strategies of cattlemen, failed by a vote of 55-40.

Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison both voted against the amendment.

A possible amendment by Sen. Chuck Grassley would subject the cattle industry to more oversight and regulation by establishing a full-time special counsel whose sole purpose would be to prosecute those in the agricultural sector.

"If adopted, cattlemen would have to defend themselves against frivolous and unsubstantiated claims in order to prove innocence," said the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in a news release.

This proposed language would also establish a task force that has unlimited authority to investigate marketing transactions that include those used in alternative marketing arrangements.

The Senate also took a cloture vote to end debate on the Energy Bill, which failed.

They now plan to take up the bill again before they adjourn, without some controversial tax provisions.