The House Agriculture Committee met for Member Day, Wednesday, a day when all Members of the House are invited to share legislative interests and priorities with the Chairman and the Ranking Member. Chairman Glenn G.T. Thompson started the conversation by emphasizing how important the Farm Bill is.
“Now, these men and women have struggled with fractured supply chains, considerable input costs, relentless inflation, natural disasters, volatile markets, labor shortages, and each consistently worsened by ill-conceived, half-baked executive action,” he said. “This committee has a magnificent mandate to deliver a Farm Bill that protects and enhances the resources needed for producers to mitigate risks and increase our nation’s, our great nation’s, position on the world stage, and strengthen agriculture’s return on investment, and most importantly, safeguard food and national security.”
While many of the legislators discussed crop insurance, Congressman Rick Allen of Georgia talked about the needs of specialty crop growers.
“Regarding market prices, I encourage the committee to address failing market prices due to seasonal inputs. Many farmers are forced to compete with foreign subsidized imports, causing a large decrease in the market value of many seasonally growing commodities,” he said. “Congressman Austin Scott, my colleague, introduced HR 4580 The American Seasonal and Perishable Crop Support Act during the 117th Congress. I ask that similar language to this bill be included in the next farm bill.” In addition, several members offered their support and well wishes for Thompson, who announced earlier this week that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.