Ag Policy Blog

A pair of senators from Alabama and Georgia sent a bipartisan letter to leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee laying out Southeastern priorities for a farm bill that involves a long list of requests in several areas.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., wrote to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., the chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., the committee's ranking member.

"Agriculture is one of the leading industries in both Georgia and Alabama, contributing billions annually to our state's economies. From pecans and peanuts, to cotton, specialty crops, and forests, Southeastern agriculture plays a significant role in our nation's agricultural profile and should play a significant role in this year's Farm Bill reauthorization process," the senators wrote.

Among the senators' requests, they want to extend the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program, and make it a permanent part of the farm bill noting "the threat feral swine pose to our farmers' land, livelihoods and bottom lines."

Along with that, Warnock and Tuberville want to change the make up of the Federal Crop Insurance Corp., board of directors to add livestock producers and underserved producers to the board.

In a move that would essentially bring in the congressional tax-writing committees, the senators from Georgia and Alabama also want to "carve out a tax deduction for losses of uncut timber."

Among the senators' other priorities:

-Protect crop insurance

-Protect the farm safety net

-Advocate for specialty crops

-deploy broadband in rural communities

The senators added, "Southern agriculture is vital to our nation's economy and food security. And we believe it is our duty to advocate on behalf of our producers."

Warnock also sent out a link from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article in which he advocates for legislation he cosigned with Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., to use the farm bill to help improve access to precision agriculture tools. https://www.ajc.com/…

SPEAKER WATCH

In the push to get Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the votes for House Speaker, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., tweeted his support. Among his tweets, Rogers stated, "We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government's vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill."

As DTN has noted, Jordan has opposed every farm bill that has come up since he came to Congress in 2007.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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