WASHINGTON - Members of the North Dakota congressional delegation say their priorities for a new farm bill include disaster assistance, boosting renewable fuels and ensuring crops in the Northern Plains get as much assistance as those in the South.

Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, all Democrats, say North Dakota has much to gain from a new six-year law.

The last farm law, written in 2002, gives farmers payments and other help to supplement their incomes, support crop prices and manage supplies.

The House Agriculture Committee will begin consideration of new farm legislation this week.

Members are hoping to finish the wide-ranging bill by year's end.

Farm-state lawmakers will have less money to work with this year, thanks to their work in writing the last farm bill.

Because that legislation saved the government billions of dollars, they have a lower baseline to start from this year.

"I think it's a bizarre feature of budget accounting," Pomeroy said.

Still, he predicted the bill will be finished this year.

"Everyone seems determined to knock this thing out," he said.

North Dakota received more than $7 billion in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2005, according to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based group that tracks payments.

Pomeroy, a member of the House committee, said his top priority is to ensure a safety net for farmers when prices are low.

Wheat farmers in the Northern Plains have not been protected in recent years, he said.

All three Democrats said they would like the new bill to provide emergency disaster funding when weather is responsible for destroying crops.

Members of Congress from the High Plains have been working to secure emergency funding for such losses in recent years but so far have been unsuccessful.

If the farm bill automatically authorizes that funding, farmers would not have to turn to Congress for extra money when weather is bad.

Dorgan said the disaster language is the "most important element" for him in the farm bill negotiations.

He said he would also like more limits on farm subsidies. The ceiling on farm payments now is $360,000, and farmers in the South, where crops such as rice and cotton are more expensive to farm, often qualify for the full amount. Loopholes allow some people to collect millions of dollars above the limit.

The administration also is trying to crack down on large payments. President Bush has asked Congress to halt farm subsidies to anyone making more than $200,000 in adjusted gross income.

The current income cap is $2.5 million.

Conrad, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said his priority is energy. He said he hopes the new bill will help North Dakota farmers take advantage of increased use of biodiesel and other renewable fuels.

He also said he would like to see improvements in crop insurance programs and conservation programs. Dorgan and Pomeroy cited similar goals.

"Those are things people are talking about around the state," Conrad said.