All nine of Indiana’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives have united on signing a letter highlighting several bipartisan Hoosier priorities for the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill.
“With more than 55,000 farms across the state of Indiana, agriculture supports over 946,000 jobs and more than $193 billion in food and agricultural economic outputs. It is imperative that we pass a strong farm bill that protects our producers in order for them to continue providing safe, affordable, and abundant food, fuel, and fiber,” said the delegation in the letter.
“The Indiana delegation has made it clear that as the Farm Bill moves through the process, our priority is to provide certainty to our farmers. I’ll work tirelessly, just as Southern Indiana farmers do every day, to ensure they continue to have the ability to feed the United States and the world,” said Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN-9th District).
This letter was supported by the Indiana Corn Growers Association, Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana State Poultry Association, Indiana Pork Producers Association, Indiana Beef Cattle Association, and Indiana Farm Bureau.
Read the full letter here and below.
Dear Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Scott, and Members of the House Committee on Agriculture,
We write to support the 2023 Farm Bill priorities listed below and ask that the House Committee on Agriculture give full and fair consideration to these priorities during the 2023 Farm Bill drafting process.
Hoosier farmers makeup the backbone of America. With more than 55,000 farms across the state of Indiana agriculture supports over 946,000 jobs and more than $193 billion in food and agricultural economic outputs. It is imperative that we pass a strong farm bill that protects our producers in order for them to continue providing safe, affordable, and abundant food, fuel, and fiber to the citizens of this nation and people around the world.
Below are several farm bill priorities that we consistently hear about from growers and producers across the state. We support the House Committee on Agriculture’s consideration of the following principles and programs:
- Farm Safety Net – With 9.6 million acres in Indiana covered under federal crop insurance, we must prioritize risk management tools and funding for both federal crop insurance and commodity programs. Additionally, we support a robust crop insurance program, with no reductions in premium cost share, and support developing and maintaining adequate risk management tools for livestock producers including contract growers. Finally, strong consideration should be given to increasing references prices combined with an option for farmers to update base acres. Planting flexibility must be maintained.
- Conservation – Indiana leads the nation in cover crop usage, and Hoosier farmers continue to utilize the conservation programs that fit the farm. We must ensure that all federal conservation programs remain voluntary and incentive based.
- Nutrition – Nutrition programs are important to Hoosiers with SNAP benefits supporting over 290,000 Hoosier families. The various food aid programs also support agriculture as many purchases are made directly from farmers. We must maintain a unified farm bill which keeps nutrition programs and farm programs together.
- Foreign Animal Disease (FAD) Prevention – Livestock and poultry producers continue to face increasing threats from FADs, including African swine fever (ASF), Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). It is imperative that we adequately fund early detection, prevention, and rapid response tools to address any potential animal disease outbreak; robust laboratory capacity for surveillance; and a viable stockpile of vaccines through the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank (NAVVCB) to rapidly respond to the intentional or unintentional introduction of a high-consequence FADs.
- Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) – The United States is the world’s leader in agricultural exports, and these two programs are designed to further build commercial export markets for U.S. agricultural products. For every $1 spent on MAP and FMD programs U.S. agriculture saw $24.50 in export gains. We must support the MAP and FMD programs to ensure the U.S. continues to gain access to new markets for our agriculture products.
Sincerely,
Rep. Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN-1st District)
Rep. Rudy Yakym III (R-IN-2nd District)
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN-3rd District)
Rep. James R. Baird (R-IN-4th District)
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5th District)
Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN-6th District)
Rep. André Carson (D-IN-7th District)
Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8th District)
Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN-9th District)