Thursday shapes up as a key day for agricultural priorities in the U.S. Senate. Lawmakers could move the farm bill and energy bill on the same day, reflecting a bit just how married the energy bill and farm bill are for agriculture.

Forget about all that junk senators debated Wednesday over asparagus and pregnancy in rural America. That was much ado about satisfying one senator's ego for ripping the farm bill.

On Thursday, serious issues get discussed early. Senators will knock out a few of the key amendments in the farm bill, focusing on payment limits, adjusted gross income caps and an effort to trim the profits of the crop-insurance industry. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., expressed optimism Thursday evening that the Senate could reach a vote on the full farm bill as early as Thursday.

"There's every possibility we could finish this bill tomorrow," Reid said.

Leading off with a vote as early as 9:15 EDT will be the $250,000 payment-cap proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is expected to be voted on early Thursday. Because of a threat over a potential filibuster from opponents, the amendment will need at least 60 votes to pass. It's hard to imagine senators jumping out to vote on any major item that early in the morning for them, but it reflects the fact they have now to put in some full work days just to move legislation.

Once senators knock out the Dorgan-Grassley amendment, Reid will set aside the farm bill and push to get a vote on a new energy bill. The bill will focus on boosting that 36-billion renewable-fuels standard, a key priority for groups such as the National Corn Growers Association, and improved mileage standards for vehicles. To pass the energy bill, Senate Democrats are looking to strip out the increased standards for renewable electricity. Resistance to that proposal has shown the nation's electrical providers right now may have more clout than the oil companies. Senators have said the $21.5 billion tax package that the White House opposes would likely remain in the bill with some minor tweaks.

Another farm-bill amendment to watch is an attempt to trim some of the rising administration and operating costs that USDA pays the crop-insurance industry. Spearheaded by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the amendment would cut the profits and expense reimbursements. Sherrod noted that over the same amount of time it took crop insurers to pay out $10.5 billion in benefits to farmers, the industry collected $19 billion in costs. Profits are averaging 17.8 percent compared to 8 percent for property-casualty lines of insurance. Sherrod would shift those "exorbitant" administrative costs to other parts of the farm bill. Still, it would not affect producers, he said.

"Our amendment does not increase the costs of crop insurance for any farmer," Brown said on the Senate floor.