Southerland noted that the group met last week and will meet today, and added, “it would not be a surprise to me if we meet again next week.

“We are having our meetings on the nutrition title,” Southerland said. “It was never our desire to pass a farm bill and not address [nutrition]. We are meeting again today to get the job done.”

He also said, however, that he does not expect the nutrition title and the farm bill to be done by September 30, when the current farm bill expires.

He also defended his amendment to the nutrition title that some farm lobbyists and members of Congress have said resulted in the comprehensive farm bill not passing the House.

Southerland said that his amendment to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP or food stamps, would have exempted the elderly, the disabled and children from a work requirement and that that his definition of work for able-bodied adults would have included volunteering to deliver food for Meals on Wheels. He also noted that states would have had the right to decide whether to use it. Southerland said his amendment was "reasonable and optional" and “there was not a single dime of cuts.”

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has noted, however, that the bill would have allowed states to keep half the money they would save by declaring people ineligible for food stamps.

Huelskamp, who was removed from the House Agriculture Committee last year by the House Republican leadership because he had been so uncooperative, said he believes that the Senate wants to proceed with a farm bill conference even if the House has not considered a nutrition bill.

Huelskamp said he does not know how committed the House Republican leadership is to that conference, but “There now becomes a real potential that there will be a conference committee report in September without action by the House,” which, he added, bothers him.

Politico reported today that at the last meeting of the Cantor group, members discussed whether a plan exists to block-grant the food stamp program to meet the budget cut that House Agriculture Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has set, or whether the proposal is a “plug,” meaning a proposal to cut the budget without policy details worked out.

In a telephone news conference, Vilsack did not indicate any plans to take the pilot project nationwide, but said that USDA has the authority to conduct further pilot projects to encourage SNAP beneficiaries to eat healthy food.

Asked whether the government should also restrict what SNAP beneficiaries can buy, Vilsack repeated earlier statements that placing restrictions on SNAP purchases would be complicated.

Grocery stores stock 300,000 products, and 10,000 to 20,000 products are introduced each year, Vilsack noted. Evaluating all those products would be difficult, he said.

He also said it is often difficult to decide which product is healthier, he said, noting that regular shredded wheat has less sodium than reduced-sugar shredded wheat. Making some foods eligible for SNAP purchases and others ineligible could create long lines in grocery stores and make the jobs of clerks, more difficult he added. But if consumers are better educated about food, they will demand better food in the future, he concluded.

“In my view, the current system cannot stand,” Upton said at the hearing Tuesday.

“I hope we can start a discussion that considers a host of potential modifications and updates to the RFS, with the end goal being a system that works best for the American people,” Upton said.

“To do that, we need everyone to come to the table with a commitment to listen and to be constructive,” he said. “I welcome all proposals to improve the system and look forward to hearing ideas from today’s witnesses. I am especially looking forward to hearing what each stakeholder is willing to bring to the table to fix the current system. I am absolutely committed to ensuring we deliver workable reforms.”