House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., on Thursday announced the reorganization of subcommittees and named the six chairmen of the panels.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., will chair the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit, which will oversee commodity programs and crop insurance. USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency will be under the subcommittee’s purview.
Scott was also named vice chair of the full committee.
Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., will chair the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology, which will handle conservation and research programs at USDA as well as the Environmental Protection Agency’s pesticide registration process.
Rep. Brad Finstad, a Minnesota Republican who is serving his first full term in Congress, will lead the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture. Its wide-ranging jurisdiction will include trade agreements, trade promotion programs, international food aid programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The subcommittee also will be responsible for food distribution programs as well as marketing and promotion programs related to fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops.
Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan., will chair the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, which will oversee livestock, dairy and poultry markets; federal dairy policy; USDA implementation of the Packers and Stockyards Act; and programs designed to prevent the spread of animal diseases.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.., will lead the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development, which will oversee the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as well as USDA’s rural development programs.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., will chair the Forestry Subcommittee, which will oversee the Forest Service.
Nutrition programs had previously been overseen by a subcommittee that also was responsible for general oversight of USDA, while livestock programs fell under the purview of a panel that also oversaw trade and foreign agriculture programs.
Thompson told Agri-Pulse Thursday he cannot finish organizing the committee until Democrats fill three remaining seats on the full panel. Potential committee members are waiting on approval for waivers that will allow them to serve on Ag while retaining other committee assignments.
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