The 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization process got under way on Tuesday during a listening session held by U.S. Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and David Valadao (R-CA) at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif.
“I’m grateful for my friend and colleague, Mr. David Valadao, for welcoming our bipartisan congressional delegation to the Central Valley,” said Rep. Thompson, chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. “The feedback we received in this listening session will be critical in crafting the 2023 Farm Bill.”
The listening session brought the lawmakers together with farmers, ranchers, producers, and agribusiness owners, who provided feedback for the upcoming Farm Bill.
“My constituents are the farmers who feed the world, and their feedback is critical to making sure our Farm Bill reflects the needs of the Central Valley,” Rep. Valadao said, adding that the witnesses provided “a lot of valuable input about how to best support California agriculture in the upcoming Farm Bill, from strengthening crop insurance to addressing skyrocketing input costs.”
Among the eight other members who joined Rep. Thompson and Rep. Valadao for the listening session were U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and U.S. Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA).
“I want to thank Chairman Thompson for bringing the committee to Tulare, and Speaker McCarthy for continuing to put the Central Valley first,” Rep. Valadao added. “I look forward to working alongside members of the House Agriculture Committee on this vital legislation.”
In a Feb. 13 op-ed co-authored by Reps. Valadao and Thompson and published by the House Agriculture Committee, both wrote that the Farm Bill governs a wide range of agricultural and food programs and is typically reauthorized every five years. The current bill is set to expire at the end of September.
“Many folks, including Biden administration officials, are quick to tout record farm income, suggesting it also means record profit for our farmers, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” the lawmakers wrote. “At the end of the day, farming is a business, and high input costs continue to weigh heavily on the minds of our farmers.”
During the Feb. 14 and future listening sessions, they wrote that members expect to hear a great deal more about rising input costs, fractured supply chains, attacks on domestic energy production, regulatory burdens, high inflation levels, crop insurance, and market access for agricultural producers.
“Unfortunately, the headwinds our producers are facing have been further exacerbated by the Biden administration through unchecked spending and nonsensical regulatory actions — creating needless uncertainty and challenges to the daily operations of a farm,” wrote the congressmen.