51 Members of Congress concerned about preserving and protecting agriculture have written Carol Browner, Administrator of the Enviornmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging that she shelve air quality standards which are based on poor science, citing the new rules' potentially negative impact on agriculture. "Please understand that, as representatives of residents living in rural areas, we want to ... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, today praised the World Trade Organization's interim ruling against the European Union's ban on U.S. beef exports. Smith and Pombo commented at an Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry hearing on agricu... Read more »
U.S., Mexico Shows New Flexibility on Non-Tariff Trade Barriers, U.S. Citrus Gets New Access to Mexico: Market Opening Follows Agriculture Committee's April Trade Mission A renewed focus on the science of agricultural trade, first urged by Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR) following the Committee's April trade mission to Mexico, has paid off for Florida and Arizona citrus producers, ... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and Dean of Oregon's Congressional Delegation, today praised a potentially historic budget agreement between White House and congressional leaders, but reserved final judgement on the pact pending a closer examination of its details. "I'm delighted that we have an agreement, which shows real courage and flexibility on bot... Read more »
Moving quickly to help farmers who face difficult planting decisions as a result of uncertainty surrounding sign up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the full House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed legislation to provide one-year CRP contracts to potential producers of fall-planted crops. The bill - H.R. 1342, which was introduced and shepherded by Agriculture Committee Cha... Read more »
Export tools such as the Export Enhancement Program (EEP) and the Market Access Program (MAP) are needed to ensure a level playing field in international markets, according to Rep. Bill Barrett (R-NE), Chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities. Barrett, whose subcommittee held a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Risk Management and Specialty Crops today, said ... Read more »
Testifying before a key house subcommittee, a Texas agricultural engineer and air quality expert today said the Enviornmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter is "grossly in error", based on faulty data, and should be withdrawn. On November 27, 1996, EPA proposed new ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter, wh... Read more »
Heeding the concerns of thousands of farmers, the House Committee on Agriculture today overwhelmingly passed legislation providing a one-year bridge contract for farmers whose Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts are expiring, and for whom the uncertainty of enrollment in CRP has limited fall planting flexibility. The bill, H.R. 1342, which was introduced by Agriculture Committee Chairman ... Read more »
Saying the time to protect farmers who grow winter-planted crops is running out, Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committe on Agriculture, today announced that the committee would consider a one-year correction of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to alleviate uncertainty resulting from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) tardiness in issuing a final rule and commen... Read more »
The Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee has postponed it's hearing on U.S. European Union trade scheduled for 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 16. In a letter today to Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee, J. David Carlin, Assistant Secretary of Congressional Relations at USDA, wrote: "Due to the sensitive state of current negotiations with the European Union on veterinary equiva... Read more »
