In addition to crop payments, other key farm bill issues to be addressed by the Senate include:

n A revenue-insurance program favored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., a member of the committee, said the revenue insurance could be a good idea but he opposes Harkin's original idea, which would work well for farmers in Corn Belt states such as Iowa, Illinois and Indiana but would penalize farmers in states such as South Dakota that typically have lower crop yields.

n A permanent disaster program is to be discussed. Thune and Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., favor such a program, although Johnson said last week that money for the current $5 billion disaster proposal must be found elsewhere, preferably by cutting farm payments to wealthy farmers. Thune said he wants to make the disaster proposal retroactive to this May.

n Country-of-origin labeling is also to be discussed. Johnson and Thune say it looks like a deal will finally be reached to put country-of-origin labeling for meat and other food products in place.

Congress approved COOL - long pushed by Johnson - in the 2002 farm bill, but the Bush administration resisted, and House members blocked funding to implement it.

The House bill passed in July includes mandatory labeling. Thune said legislative specialists have found a mistake in the House bill's language that would allow COOL to be voluntary, but he said it will likely be fixed because there is general agreement among meatpackers, grocers and producers that mandatory labeling can work.

Johnson told producers in Aberdeen on Oct. 10 that opponents don't have the votes to stop COOL this time.

n Livestock competition will be a point of discussion. Thune and Johnson favor provisions to improve competition in the livestock industry by limiting meatpacker ownership of livestock.

Thune said he wants to preserve the right of livestock producers to enter into "forward contracts" with meatpackers as a way to ensure a good price for their animals.

"I do not want to limit a producer's ability to market their product and to manage their risk. A lot of proposals ban any kind of forward contracting," Thune said.

Johnson said in a written statement he also favors preserving forward contracts and they would be preserved in a packer ownership ban.

But Thune said he doubts there is enough support in the Senate to pass a packer ownership ban.

He has offered an amendment that would require a study of captive supply and packer ownership of livestock to determine the impact on competition and prices.

n FSA office closings will be discussed. Johnson favors the provision in the House bill that would delay closing some Farm Service Agency offices, including several in South Dakota, for one year.

FSA officials say they need to consolidate offices to make the best use of dwindling staff to provide good service to farmers.

Thune said he is working on an amendment to try to address the entire problem, not simply the office closings. However, he said, details hadn't been finalized.

n Conservation will be a key point, as well. Johnson favors the sod saver provision, which is also in the House bill.

"Preserving our grasslands is crucial to protecting our wildlife population and ecosystem," Johnson said in the written statement.

"While South Dakota's economy is reliant on agricultural production, it is also important to maintain a balance of production and conservation."

Thune also favors the provision, which would reduce crop insurance incentives to break up native sod.

He also said he was concerned about Harkin's push to take money from crop payments and put it all into the Conservation Security Program.

Thune said he favors a strong but broad-based conservation program.

"We want to make sure we got a good strong CRP (Conservation Reserve Program), wetlands reserve program and grasslands reserve program, all high priorities for us in this part of the country," he said.