New Farm Bill Clears Senate Ag Panel, Ready for Senate Vote

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced a farm bill to the full Senate. 

Just prior to Congress beginning its August recess, more than 260 farm organizations, led by the American Farm Bureau Federation and including NPPC, urged the committee to pass the farm bill out of committee.

In addition to provisions on nutrition assistance, farm loans, and conservation, the Senate’s farm bill has a number of provisions strongly backed by NPPC. The bill would require or allow:

• The Feral Swine Eradication and Control Program to become a full program.
• Funding for the Market Access and Foreign Market Development export promotion programs to be more than doubled.
• “Animal protein” to be added to the list of eligible Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program incentive foods.
• U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to publish the Dietary Guidelines for Americans every 10 years rather than five.
• Unexpended funds for animal health and disease research programs to be rolled over to the following year.
• Agriculture Secretary to establish additional dog training facilities to safeguard agricultural and natural resources from foreign and invasive pests and diseases.
• Funding increases for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank.
• USDA to contract with qualified veterinarians to carry out inspection activities on meat imports when there is a lack of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspectors.
• A permanent voluntary certification program to be established for swine diseases–the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan–and authorization of appropriations to maintain US SHIP as a permanent program.