WASHINGTON - The Senate passed legislation Thursday that includes $4.2 billion to help farmers and ranchers hurt by drought, floods and other weather-related disasters in recent years.

The money is included in a $122 billion war spending bill designed to help pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House passed a similar bill last week that included slightly less than $4 billion in farm aid.

The farm provision must now withstand House-Senate negotiations over a final bill. Some Republicans have opposed the farm money, saying it is expensive and excessive. President Bush has threatened to veto both bills, objecting to language that would call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by next year.

North Dakota's two Democratic senators praised the bill's passage.

"The Senate has spoken strongly in favor of disaster aid, and that's good news for our family farmers who have been hit hard by weather-related disasters in the last few years," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, who will sit on the conference committee that will negotiate the bill.

Sen. Kent Conrad said it is now up to President Bush.

"The final roadblock we face now lies at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Conrad said. "We need to send a clear message to the White House - don't turn your back on our farm families."

Many farmers in North Dakota and other Western and Midwestern states have lost business due to drought that has plagued the region for many years. Farmers also have been hurt by flooding.

Republicans strenuously objected to the troop withdrawal language in the bill, and the final vote was 51-47.

The inclusion of the disaster money made it a hard vote for some farm-state Republicans, including South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

"I have been and remain a strong proponent for agriculture disaster relief and I would vote for this bill if it did not telegraph our military strategy to the enemy and force our troops to surrender regardless of conditions on the ground," Thune said in a statement.