Bill also addresses COOL and organic label

WASHINGTON (AP)--The Senate on Nov. 3 sent a $100 billion food and farm spending bill to President Bush that includes a two-year delay on labels telling grocery shoppers where their meat comes from.

A separate vote was expected later Nov. 3 on whether big farms should be allowed to continue collecting millions of dollars from the government to subsidize their operations.

Approved on an 81 to 18 vote, the food and farm spending bill would postpone mandatory meat labeling until 2008. Originally sought by Western ranchers and required by law in 2004, country-of-origin labeling has stalled under pressure from meatpackers and supermarkets who call it a record-keeping nightmare.

The measure also unravels a court ruling on whether products labeled "USDA Organic" can contain small amounts of non-organic substances. Earlier this year, an appeals court ruled that non-organic substances such as vitamins or baking powder can't be in food bearing the round, green seal.

More than 200 companies and trade groups said the ingredients are processing aids needed for making organic yogurt and many other products, and congressional negotiators agreed.