Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-1), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, held a hearing to evaluate the effectiveness of farm policy in advance of crafting the next farm bill. Members heard from producers who discussed the importance of both commodity policy and crop insurance. This hearing continues the commit... Read more »
Remarks as prepared for delivery: This is the first hearing of the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management subcommittee in preparation for the next farm bill. Over the course of the next year, we will be examining the policies under our jurisdiction so we can improve upon the 2014 Farm Bill and make sure that the needs of not only American farmers and ranchers are being met, but so that consu... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX), along with Ranking Member Peterson (D-MN), Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) and Rep. David Scott (D-GA) sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Tim Massad expressing concern with the CFTC’s proposed exemptive order for the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. and the proposed amend... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: Thank you all for being here for this hearing exploring Big Data and Agriculture: Innovation in the Air. This is our second hearing in a series to educate Members about the different facets of this new frontier in agriculture. Production agriculture from one hundred years ago is markedly different than it is today. While our farmers are still producing many of the same crops, ... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a hearing on the growing financial pressures faced by U.S. farmers and ranchers. Conditions in farm country today contrast sharply with those during the formulation of the 2014 Farm Bill. While high prices for many farm commodities led to tremendous growth in net farm incom... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: As many of you know, this is the first hearing in a series focused on the farm economy. Every subcommittee will play a role in highlighting current conditions on our farms and ranches and in rural America today. Today, the economic conditions in farm and ranch country are fundamentally different than the conditions we faced when we crafted the 2014 Farm Bill. In just three yea... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) announced today that the committee will begin a series of hearings titled Focus on the Farm Economy. Each of the six subcommittees will examine growing pressure in rural America from the perspective of the subcommittee. The first hearing in the series—Focus on the Farm Economy: Growing Farm Financial Pressure—will be... Read more »
Washington, D.C. - Following media reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture intends to deny urgently needed assistance to American cotton farmers and the rural communities that depend on the U.S. cotton industry, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) issued the following statement. "I greatly appreciate that Secretary Vilsack has been taking time to consider the req... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: As most of you are aware, we have a very serious situation unfolding in the cotton belt right now. The purpose of this hearing is to hear from the folks who are directly affected on the front lines. I think it is important that we hear from the folks on this panel as they articulate how difficult the circumstances are right now and what may lie in store if mitigating action is... Read more »
Remarks as prepared: This hearing on the financial health of farm country will come to order. During the Farm Bill debate, we heard a good bit about the relatively high prices farmers were receiving for their crops, and the suggestion was made by at least some folks that it was as good a time as any to discontinue the Farm Bill. Now that we are in year two of the Farm Bill, I thought it would be a... Read more »
