Thompson readies farm bill   

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., hopes to release a draft of a new farm bill by this weekend and to hold a markup on the bill the last week of February, sources have told The Hagstrom Report. 

The likelihood that Thompson will release a bill soon was reinforced by the fact that a House Agriculture Committee aide who was scheduled to speak at the Crop Insurance Industry Annual Convention in Indian Wells, Calif., did not attend.

American Association of Crop Insurers President Scott Graves said that Thompson needed the aide in Washington.