Hartzler praises passage of 2018 Farm Bill

(From Fourth District Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler)

Today Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, praised the Committee’s passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. The Committee passed the measure by a margin of 26 to 20.

“I am pleased that the Agriculture Committee has worked together to pass this important bill in a timely manner,” Hartzler said. “Missouri farmers work hard everyday to feed the world, and they need the certainty of a five-year Farm Bill. This bill strengthens safeguards for our food supply and improves public/private risk management programs that are vital to American agriculture. In addition, the Farm Bill makes significant investments in rural broadband, including a provision I authored to expand access to loan guarantees for broadband infrastructure in rural America and set a minimum speed for federal investment. Today was an important step, and I look forward to the upcoming floor vote to move this process forward.”

Hartzler noted that this bill makes historic improvements to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and helps recipients break the cycle of poverty. “Improving work opportunities for able-bodied adults receiving federal nutrition assistance is a key development in this year’s Farm Bill. Missourians have always supported giving their fellow man a hand up, and these common-sense improvements to the nutrition program will help those receiving SNAP find meaningful employment,” said Hartzler.

Specifically, the Farm Bill:

• Reauthorizes and strengthens Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, maintains crop insurance.
• Streamlines existing work requirements for able-bodied SNAP recipients and pairs them with a variety of options to increase SNAP recipients’ opportunities.
• Provides a safety net for farmers who are affected by unfair foreign trading practices.
• Reforms key conservation programs, expands access to working land programs, and includes language Rep. Hartzler authored to increase grazing flexibility for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands.
• Authorizes substantial funding for the expansion of rural broadband.
• Establishes new programs to protect the health of the nation’s livestock.
• Improves assistance for specialty crops and reduces fraud in organic imports.
• Helps beginning farmers and ranchers establish themselves in agriculture.