Davids Urges Passage of Bipartisan Farm Bill During Regional Agricultural Forum
Without congressional action, current Farm Bill expires this week
Yesterday, during a panel hosted by the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City (AgBizKC), Representative Sharice Davids highlighted the importance of passing a bipartisan Farm Bill to support Kansas farmers, ranchers, and producers. The Farm Bill, which contains provisions expiring on September 30, 2023, is a package of legislation reauthorized about every five years that includes several critically important agriculture, conservation, nutrition, and trade programs. Davids and Representative Tracey Mann (KS-01), who also participated in the conversation, both serve on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
“While traveling the Kansas Third on my Farm Bill listening tour, I saw firsthand how important Farm Bill programs are to the daily operations of our community’s farms and agribusinesses,” said Davids. “Thankfully, Kansans have two representatives on the House Ag Committee advocating for their priorities, me and Rep. Mann. The farmers and producers I spoke with agree that there’s no time to waste in passing a bipartisan Farm Bill that benefits Kansas producers and our economy, secures agricultural supply chains, and helps lower grocery costs.”
Davids and Mann’s conversation took place during the 9th annual Ag Outlook Forum, which was jointly hosted by AgBizKC and Agri-Pulse Communications to help local business leaders, trade executives, and producers find solutions to the current challenges facing their agricultural operations. During the discussion hosted by Blake Hurst of Hurst Farms, Davids laid out her priorities for a bipartisan Farm Bill, which include protecting crop insurance and strengthening agricultural research programs.
To prepare for Farm Bill discussions in Washington, Davids embarked on a Farm Bill listening tour, where she visited a poultry and livestock operation in Anderson County, a co-op in Franklin County, a goat farm in Miami County, an organic vegetable farm in Johnson County, and an educational community farm in Wyandotte County. Davids also toured a Garnett-based renewable ethanol producer, participated in FFA activities at Spring Hill High School, served a school lunch at Black Bob Elementary in Olathe, spoke with industry leaders on financial support programs for farmers, and toured a dairy farm in Garnett.