lawmakers

Lawmakers Getting Behind Hemp Industry

Dan Florida, Specialty Crops

Looking at a potentially lucrative new industry, lawmakers are working on rules for farmers and businesses to grow and sell industrial hemp in Florida. The Senate Agriculture Committee on Monday approved a bill (SB 1020) that would create a regulatory framework for the industry, which is emerging after a federal law last year legalized industrial hemp as an agricultural product. …

senate

Bipartisan Farm Bill Passed by Senate Ag Committee

Dan Farm Bill, Industry News Release, Legislative

Delivering on a promise, U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., are pleased to announce the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 was favorably reported out of the Committee with bipartisan support. Commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, the bipartisan 5-year legislation encompasses a broad array of agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy.  …

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SNAP Draws Strong Praise

Dan Industry News Release

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, drew strong praise, and even an emotional defense during testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee last week. SNAP works and should not be scaled back in the next farm bill, a panel of witnesses told the Senate Ag Committee—a poignant message as the House GOP continues efforts to find SNAP savings, after a failed …

afbf

Farm Bureau Presents Farm Bill Goals to Congress

Dan Farm Bill, Industry News Release

Congress must counter a steep, four-year drop in commodity prices that has left farmers and ranchers in worse shape than any time since the farm depression of the 1980s, Kentucky Farm Bureau President Mark Haney told the Senate Agriculture Committee. Haney’s testimony cited growing losses in farm country that increasingly threaten the livelihoods of millions of Americans. “2017 and 2018 …

Senate Agriculture Committee Members Visit Alabama Farms

Dan Alabama, Farm Bill

Autauga County farmer Harold Gaines stood with his sons Dan and Levi as he told leaders of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee his priority for the 2018 farm bill Saturday morning. “I want to be able to pass on this farm to the next generation and for them to be successful,” Gaines said as Sens. Luther Strange, R-Alabama, and Pat …

Florida lawmakers

Top Senate Ag Democrat Releases Trump Budget Fact Sheet

Dan Economy, Industry News Release

A fact sheet released by the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Ranking Democrat highlights the expected impact of President Donald Trump’s proposed budget on agriculture. The fact sheet claims that President Trump is “turning his back on rural America.” Released by Senate Democrat Debbie Stabenow’s office, the fact sheet says cuts included in the proposal to crop insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition …

weaker

Experts Expect Down Farm Economy to Continue

Dan Economy, Industry News Release

A financial expert forecasted to lawmakers Thursday the current agriculture economic conditions will continue. During a Senate Agriculture Committee on the rural economy, Nathan Kauffman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City informed the committee that a farm crisis does not appear imminent, but there are still risks that could lead to more widespread challenges in the coming years. …