Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Agriculture Committee’s Livestock and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the impact of wild, invasive, and non-native species on American agriculture. After the hearing, Subcommittee Ranking Member David Rouzer (NC-7) and Committee Ranking Member K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) released the following remarks:
“Invasive species present serious and wide-ranging threats to agriculture production across this country. In order to combat these pests, it’s critical that we continue to improve our coordinated response and control efforts to minimize the impacts on production agriculture and ensure that we are able to remain good stewards of the land. We took steps to address these issues in the 2018 Farm Bill such as the establishment of the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, directing USDA to work with states and local stakeholders to fund targeted efforts to safeguard American agriculture from invasive species. This issue also gives us another reason to quickly ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, so that we can work in concert with our neighbors to quickly detect and eradicate invasive species,” said Subcommittee Ranking Member Rouzer.
“I’ve seen first-hand the destruction caused by feral swine in Texas and across the country. I am proud that the 2018 Farm Bill established the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program to remove wild hogs and reduce the disastrous impacts they have on farmland. Funding is now available for projects in nine states, including Texas, to help communities control the feral swine population and restore land damaged by this devastating species,” said Ranking Member Conaway.
