house ag committee

The U.S. House voted last week to repeal, on a largely symbolic 227-198 vote, the EPA’s controversial WOTUS rule.  The Senate could follow suit as soon as this week.  Democrats argued clean water is a human right that will suffer with the GOP’s move.  However nine Democrats, inclu...

On Monday, Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse as well as Representative Austin Scott, of Georgia, led a letter to United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with Chair of House Agriculture Committee “GT” Thompson urging immediate action to improve outdated and inefficient FSA program operations.    “...

On Thursday, Oregon’s two newest Representatives, Lori Chavez-DeRemer (from the 5th district) and Andrea Salinas (from the 6th), issued a bipartisan joint statement asking for feedback from Oregonians who will be impacted by the 2023 Farm Bill.  ...

The Representative for Oregon’s newest Congressional district has been tapped to serve on the House Ag Committee.  Congresswoman Andrea Salinas says her appointment is good news for Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, and the many specialty crop growers that call the area home.  She noted she’s loo...

On Thursday, Democratic leadership appointed Oregon representative Andrea Salinas to the House Ag Committee.   “Oregon’s sixth district stretches across hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and produces everything from wine grapes to hazelnuts, berries to dairy products, grass seed, and countless other crops that people around the globe enjoy," noted the freshman Democrat from Tigard. 

The push to get a farm bill across the finish line this year could run headlong into the partisan fight over budget cuts versus raising the government’s borrowing limit.  On Thursday, new House Ag Chair, Republican Glenn Thompson stressed that lawmakers have a deadline in front of them, since the current Farm Bill expires on September 30th of this year.  While that de...

The top Republican on the House Ag Committee wants a stronger safety net for U.S. farmers.  Pennsylvania Republican Glenn Thompson wants Congress to strengthen crop insurance and farm subsidy programs so producers don’t have to rely on stop-gap federal aid to survive challenges like trade wars, natural disasters, and COVID-19.   “The n...

Broadband, soil health, and rail service are all topics before the House Ag Committee this week as the House returns from summer recess.  Broadband and soil health practices are before the full Ag panel, while rail service is in front of a pair of House subcommittees, though broadband, part of the Farm Bill, is probably the highest-profile of the three issues.  Congres...

House Ag Committee Chair David Scott recently introduced the Small Family Farmer and Rancher Relief Act to help small farmers and ranchers in the cattle industry. “As I’ve said before, it’s a crisis in this nation that we’ve lost an average of 17,000 cattle ranchers per year,” Scott said.  “The drivers of the loss ar...

Last week, House Agriculture Chairman David Scott announced the intention to introduce a bill to help small family farmers and ranchers and address the national crisis in our nation’s beef supply chain. Scott said, “What has been missing from the conversation is help for the very beginning of our food supply chain, which is our nation’s small family farmers and ranchers.” The bill Sco...