Beginning work on the next farm bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Our nation faces unprecedented economic challenges, and rural communities are not immune. From environmental policies like the Clean Water Act, to economic policies such as languishing trade agreements, the Death Tax, and our skyrocketing federal debt, farmers and ranchers have concerns.

Agriculture has an important role in the economic, social, and environmental outlook of our country and our world. We should be working to create policies which will strengthen American agriculture and provide long-term stability for our nation's producers to foster sustained growth for rural communities.

Recently, the House Agriculture Committee began hearings in advance of writing the 2012 Farm Bill. I was pleased to take part in several of the field hearings -- including those in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Committee also heard testimony from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. We had the chance to hear from farmers and ranchers to determine which parts of the overall legislation work and which parts need to be improved as well as ways to ensure farm policies will encourage production and sustain family agriculture.

While some may question starting work on the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, the last time Congress tackled this issue it took two and a half years from the first Committee hearing to the bill's final passage.

The Farm Bill covers a broad range of agricultural policies and programs, including farm credit, agricultural conservation, rural development, and foreign and domestic food programs - like food stamps. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, one of my main goals has been to promote American agriculture and provide for our future. Though much of the coverage of the legislation has been on its impact on agriculture - as it should be - it should be noted farm related aspects of the last Farm Bill accounted for less than 20 percent of the overall bill. Nearly 70 percent of the bill's spending went to nutrition programs.

As a colleague of mine remarked at the time, "there is very little 'farm' in the Farm Bill anymore."

We should be working to create policies which will bolster American agriculture, which in turn will help strengthen our overall economy. The rural way of life is changing, and I believe now is the time for Congress to listen to the farmers and ranchers who, literally, have their boots on the ground.

With so much budget uncertainty, producers are feeling strained and uneasy as we look to the next Farm Bill. Now more than ever, our agriculture products must be as competitive as possible in the world market. Opening new export markets has long been a priority of mine, and I will continue to help Nebraska's producers meet global marketplace demands. U.S. agriculture producers will need to reach more and more foreign customers in order to restore profits, and any Farm Bill we enact shouldn't hobble our farmers and ranchers, but instead give them the freedom to produce for these new markets.

Our nation's agriculture producers embody the can-do spirit which makes America great. They feed the world and continue to be one of the brightest parts of our nation's economy. In fact, in more ways than one, the road to our country's economic recovery runs through ag country.

As this process moves forward, it is important for Congress to enact -- in a timely manner -- a Farm Bill which gives America's farmers and ranchers the opportunity to prosper and keep a way of life alive. Our nation's food supply, the success of our local economies, and our ability to compete in today's global economy depend on our continued support of rural communities and our agricultural way of life.