There were a lot of highlights Tuesday as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke at the National Press Club on childhood obesity and the administration's plans for child nutrition. You likely will be able to catch that speech on C-Span sometime in the coming days.

But House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., spoke to the USA Rice Federation Tuesday morning and began by explaining why he is beginning to talk about the 2012 farm bill so early. It's pretty simple: the threat of budget reconciliation and the looming threat of the federal deficit will come back to bite farm programs. A plan for 2012 and defining reforms on their own terms may help reduce the cuts to agriculture.

"I'm worried about what is going to happen next year after the elections, no matter who wins the election," Peterson said.

In trying to cut the $1.3 trillion budget deficit, everything will be on the table, Peterson told rice growers. That ranges from Social Security to Medicare and Medicaid, on down to farm-program spending. There's no way Congress will deal with the three big entitlement programs and leave USDA's budget harmless.

"I just don't see how we can keep running along and running these deficits up," he said.

Peterson noted he has seen recent articles in the Financial Times suggesting that the U.S. could default on its debt, a shocking suggestion, but apparently a growing concern in Europe.

"I just don't see how next year you don't try to confront this," Peterson said. "I'm just trying to look ahead at what could happen."

Peterson added he would like to get a 2012 farm bill out of the House sometime in 2011 and over to the Senate. Ideally, then a conference report would go to a vote in each chamber before fall 2012 and not get wrapped up in the election cycle.

"That's not a good scenario."

Lincoln's Election

When introducing Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., before Peterson spoke, Frank Rehermann, chairman of the USA Rice Producers' Group, said about the reelection challenge Lincoln faces, "I absolutely don't understand how someone could consider turning out an accomplished public servant like Blanche Lincoln."

The rice growers political action committee had a fundraiser for Lincoln earlier in the morning.

Lincoln, in finishing up her comments to rice producers, said it's important to have a chairman who understands production agriculture. She had highlighted earlier that the Senate has had an agriculture committee, and a committee chairman for 184 years.

"In that 184 years, we've had folks chairing the agriculture committee who understood production agriculture, but we haven't had for awhile."

Correction:

I was sloppy with my metaphors yesterday. There is "death knell" or "nail in the coffin" but it's improper etiquette to co-mingle and write "death nail." I also had a grammar mistake on Sunday that was kind of frustrating as well.