The soon-to-be Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture agree that energy policy and ethanol are the “engine” - but they can’t agree whether it is pulling the farm bill or pushing the farm bill.

Silly semantics? Maybe.

Probably, however, a more profound metaphor for how out of hand ethanol policy has gotten. It is the “tail” that is “wagging the dog,” if you’ll excuse another metaphor, …

From the wires: Incoming Senate Agriculture Chairman Harkin and Agriculture Secretary Johanns said today they hope to cooperate on the 2007 farm bill, particularly on the issues of conservation and energy development. But Harkin and Johanns also said their joint news conference was not a signal that the United States is planning to make concessions on agriculture in the Doha round of trade negotiations. “Energy may be the engine that pulls this farm bill or pushes it,” Harkin said.

Johanns said, “Philosophically, at least, we share the same goals.” Harkin said “everything is on the table,” but he stressed the need for continued and possibly additional federal spending to encourage production and processing of energy crops and to address farmers’ increasing costs of energy and fertilizer.

(Harkin) also said budgeters should provide money for energy crop development because “the public is demanding that we do this.” Harkin noted “maybe there’s room for cellulosic energy crops” in the South.