Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
The House Agriculture Committee met last Wednesday for “Member Day”—a day when all Members of the House are invited to share legislative interests and priorities with the Chairman and the Ranking Member.
Rep. Glenn G.T. Thompson (RA-P-15), who is Chair of the House Ag Committee, 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, Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA-12) 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.
Click below to watch the full hearing of the House Ag Committee on “Member Day” on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023.
