After much back-door wrangling over last-minute issues, the U.S. Senate moved to conference the Farm Bill via voice vote July 31, Roll Call reported.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’d like to see a Farm Bill conference report ready after Labor Day, which would give lawmakers just over a month to finalize the legislation.

McConnell says Senate and House leaders are “committed to staying in touch, although they are taking a six-week break,” referring to the House’s August recess that began a week earlier.

Conference negotiators will have to, contend with differences between the bills on conservation programs and subsidies.

The House bill would remove $795 million over 10 years from conservation funding, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That includes repealing the CSP program favored by Ben Schole.

The Senate would keep conservation spending at current levels, although some money from CSP would move to other programs. The Senate bill also prioritizes conservation funding for projects that do the most good for soil and water quality.

IN OTHER NO-TILL NEWS…

• Deere & Co. signed an agreement to acquire Argentina-based PLA, a privately-held manufacturer of sprayers, planters and specialty products for agriculture. PLA was the first company to make self-propelled sprayers in Latin America and currently markets products on four continents.
• Global seed brand Donmario announced it’s now marketing soybean seed in the U.S. The seed will be marketed by Burrus Seed of Arenzville, Ill., and available to growers in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
• Land O’Lakes announced…