So there they all were, at the table, ready to talk turkey about the farm bill.

And everything went black.

A couple hundred people oohed and giggled a little bit Monday morning before the red-faced culprit found the light switch he'd leaned against and turned it back on. Seconds later, it was business as usual at the annual gathering of the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation Districts. But the metaphor was lost on few.

Progress has stalled on the Senate version of the bill, despite early predictions that it would quickly head out of that body and into conference committee. Lawmakers, home now on Thanksgiving break, have been left in the dark - and countless beneficiaries of the bill hope they won't be left in the lurch.

Monday's meeting at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck was billed as a farm bill "follow-up," designed to update stakeholders on what they can expect to see from the $286 billion bill over the next five years. But no bill, no follow-up.

Instead, local agriculture and conservation officials focused on what they'd like to see in the bill, and how to bridge the impasse.

"You've got to crank up the volume on this farm bill," Robert Carlson, executive director of the North Dakota Farmers Union, told the audience.

"One of the things our national office tells me is the Senate isn't getting much by way of phone calls on the farm bill. I don't think you need to contact our delegation - they know what's at stake. But if you're from another state, including those surrounding us, you might want to call."

An audience member asked Carlson why urban residents and the national media have been down on the bill.

Carlson said it's a matter of perception. He said less than a quarter of 1 percent of the bill would be earmarked for payments to producers, but those payments - sometimes to very wealthy individuals - are what gets the ink.

His organization believes the bill needs to include permanent disaster aid, but also believes that some of the more egregious payments need to be done away with.

Regular farmers and ranchers, Carlson said, need to start telling their stories.

"This is more of a consumers' bill than it is a farm bill," Carlson said. "Consumers can eat cheaper here than in any other country, and cheaper than during any other time in this country."

Keith Trego, with the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, highlighted some of the conservation measures that could be included in the bill.

His agency supports the continuation of the Conservation Reserve Program, and the reauthorization of the Wetlands Reserve and Grassland Reserve programs.

Beyond the conservation programs, Trego touted some of the proposed amendments that would benefit the state's budding alternative-energy industry. Partnerships between conservation groups, agriculture and energy are the way of the future in North Dakota, he said.

"This could change the landscape in North Dakota more than anything in our lifetimes," Trego said.