United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has stopped short of saying the 2008 Farm Bill needs to be re-opened when discussing trade issues.
But he said it was "clear that Congress didn't care much about the Farm Bill being WTO (World Trade Organisation) compliant".
"The ACRE program, the disaster program, are not WTO compliant," Mr Schafer said.
"We will go back to Congress to make the appropriate changes."
Average Crop Revenue Election, a program that purports to be a combination insurance and disaster program, is based on production.
What may happen is that the 2009 crop season starts without a program signup, particularly because USDA needs new software and hardware to implement the program.
Congress, however, funded only $55 million of the $200 million USDA needs, Schafer said.
So, Schafer said, "We will allow it to be retroactive so they don't have to worry about a signup now."
Ultimately, Schafer said, the next Administration will play a role in defining the 2008 Farm Bill, much of which is dependent on interpretation by USDA.
"We will not get this Farm Bill fully implemented before the end of this administration," Schafer said.
Email a friend