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(AP) – Securing passage for a new five-year farm bill tops the to-do list for North Dakota’s congressional delegation as it heads into 2014.

House and Senate negotiators hope to have an agreement early next year. But Republican Senator John Hoeven says his first task will be making sure negotiations don’t get off track. Hoeven is a member of the committee negotiating an agreement.

Democrat Senator Heidi Heitkamp says she’s also focused farm bill. Both Hoeven and Heitkamp say that if the legislation is approved, they will then focus on its implementation and making sure it works for North Dakota’s farmers and livestock producers.