Newhouse: Adequately Funding USDA A Top Priority

Conservation and Ag groups took to Washington D.C. this week, asking that the conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill be fully funded.  This comes as talks of cuts to the USDA budget, perhaps up to 5%, continue to loom.  Representative Dan Newhouse said while many questions remain about the details of the President’s proposed 2020 budget, he says the Ag community can’t move backwards when it comes to conservation.

“We’ve made tremendous headway over the last four years and so we’re continuing to look at the budget.”

Newhouse a member of the House Appropriations committee says many lawmakers have said the USDA needs to be funded to help a challenging ag economy.  Newhouse added it’s a delicate balancing act.

“We’ll do all that we can to make sure not only can we be efficient with taxpayer dollars, but we are targeting those dollars in places that we absolutely have to have in USDA.  Which, as you know, performs a lot of important functions so we want to make sure that they are adequately funded,” Newhouse added.

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