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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
The House and Senate Agriculture Committees are ready to focus on debating a new farm bill after lawmakers used the newly enacted omnibus funding package to clear their to-do lists. But it took several years to pass a farm bill the last time a divided Congress tried to do the job.
Kevin McCarthy looks to take the House speakership when the new Congress convenes this week, but he is still struggling to win over hard liners who have been pushing for concessions that could weaken his authority.
Georgia Democrat David Scott, who has been the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee for the past two years, has been elected as Ranking Member by his Democratic colleagues for the 118th Congress.
The lead Republican on the House Agriculture Committee's Conservation and Forestry Subcommittee, fourth-generation rice farmer Doug LeMalfa, wants to ensure in the next Congress that farm conservation practices stay voluntary, and he also intends to focus on what he considers proactive fire and timber management.
The produce industry is pointing to the release of USDA’s Farm Labor Survey the day before Thanksgiving as a reason for passing farm workforce legislation.
Republicans plan to use their razor-thin House majority and the committee control it gives them to investigate the Biden administration’s regulation of pesticides, climate policy and other issues important to agriculture.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, who’s set to chair the House Agriculture Committee under GOP control of the chamber, plans to hit the ground running with farm bill hearings next year in hopes of getting the legislation out of the House by July.
Beth Ellikidis has been tapped as the new vice president, agriculture and environment at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott makes several promotions on the majority agriculture staff.
Although the mid-term election results aren't final, House Republicans may have a very thin majority in the next Congress to pass a farm bill that will be a top priority for many in the party's rural base.
Several Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee whom Republicans had targeted for defeat won re-election instead, helping stem the massive mid-term losses that first-term presidents have traditionally faced. Meanwhile, Senate control remained up in the air after Democrats flipped a seat in Pennsylvania.