Farm Groups Unite For Disaster Aid.

This article reports that the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation made a rare joint appearance today at a news conference to promote an agricultural disaster aid bill. The two groups usually differ on farm policy, but National Farmers Union President Tom Buis and Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke appeared at the news conference, with Senate Budget Committee ranking member Kent Conrad, Senator Byron Dorgan and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Max Baucus, on behalf of a bill that Conrad introduced last year to compensate farmers for weather-related losses and high energy costs in 2005. The bill has 24 co-sponsors, including seven Republicans, but no GOP members appeared at the news conference.