Who: Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville
What: Commissioner Rick Pate is hosting Farm Bill Public Hearings with
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville.
When & Where:
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
9:15 a.m. Coastal Alabama Community College
1900 Highway 31 S, Bay Minette, AL 36507
12:00 p.m. Wiregrass Research & Extension Center
167 AL HWY 134, Headland, AL 36345
3:00 p.m. Snead State Community College
220 N Walnut St, Boaz, AL 35957
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
9:30 a.m. Alabama Wildlife Federation
3050 Lanark Rd, Millbrook, AL 63054
Montgomery, Ala. — Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate invites the public and media to attend upcoming farm bill discussion public hearings. Commissioner Pate and Senator Tuberville are providing an opportunity for those who will be impacted by the farm bill to offer input and voice their concerns.
The farm bill is a package of legislation passed every five years that has a tremendous impact on farming livelihoods, how food is grown, and what kind of foods are grown. Covering programs ranging from crop insurance for farmers to healthy food access for low-income families, from beginning farmer training to support for sustainable farming practices, the farm bill sets the stage for food and farm systems.
“I want to encourage everyone in Alabama to attend at least one of these public hearings and actively participate so that your concerns about the future of agriculture can be addressed in the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill,” said Commissioner Pate. Time will be set aside for the audience to voice their concerns and for media interviews.”
As Alabama’s voice on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Tuberville has introduced legislation to directly address issues facing our agriculture community such as the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act, which would put more safeguards in place for foreign purchases of American farmland. Alabama has the third-highest amount of foreign-owned land in the country.
Senator Tuberville also helped introduce the Feral Swine Eradication Act to extend and establish a permanent program to safeguard public health, agriculture, and local ecosystems against the threat of feral swine, which caused more than $1.5 billion in damages annually. Over the last five years, feral swine have impacted more than 173,000 acres in Alabama.
Senator Tuberville’s priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill are:
- Protecting critical crop insurance and farm safety net programs such as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for our producers.
- Increasing reference prices, which are used in calculating crop subsidy payments for Title 1 commodities. Title 1 commodities consist of traditional row crops including, cotton, peanuts, corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.
- Addressing rising input costs such as, feed, fuel, fertilizer and equipment for producers. The prices for fuel and fertilizers remain 60 percent to 130 percent higher than their levels in January 2021. Overall total farm production expenses are up four percent from 2022 and more than 28 percent from 2021.
- Extending and funding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP).
- Supporting USDA broadband programs, with an emphasis on unserved populations.
- Prioritizing working land’s conservation programs like, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), focusing on land retirement programs such as, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and ensuring that all conservation programs remain voluntary, market-driven and incentive-based. Senator Tuberville opposes any efforts to put working agricultural lands into conservation programs as this removes prime farmland from operation and inhibits our nation’s food security.
Senator Tuberville sits on three subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee including, (1) Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade; (2) Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources and (3) Rural Development and Energy.
For more information call 334-240-7100 or contact Amy Belcher at amy.belcher@agi.alabama.gov or Laura Jean McCurdy at laurajean.mccurdy@agi.alabama.gov.
