The August recess begins today for Congress and despite a vote in the House approving disaster relief for livestock producers under an expired provision of the 2008 farm bill, lawmakers are leaving with very little accomplished toward either drought relief or new farm legislation.

“I’m going to support this bill, it’s better than nothing but it’s not what we should be doing,” said House Ag Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN) before a vote on the drought relief bill retroactively extends the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Peterson called it a “poor substitute for a farm bill” and said it would go no where in the Senate and would only benefit those going back to their districts to campaign who can claim they voted to help livestock producers.

House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) hopes the drought bill will still help them get a farm bill passed with the Senate before it expires on September 30. “The underlying issue still is passing a comprehensive five year farm bill,” he said. “My friend and I have worked very hard and made more progress than many pundits would have ever given us credit for, but we’re not there yet.”

Lucas says he knows the five year farm bill passed out of the agriculture committee is not perfect, but no legislation is and he believes in the legislative process.

Listen to comments from Peterson and Lucas on the House floor here: Reps. Collin Peterson and Frank Lucas