Feenstra Secures Victories for Iowa Agriculture in the Farm Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) applauded the introduction of the Farm Bill in the U.S. House of Representatives and announced major legislative victories for Iowa. The Farm Bill includes language from 10 bills that Feenstra introduced, 7 bills that he co-led, and 8 bills that he cosponsored.

“The Farm Bill is a vital investment in our producers, our economy, our international competitiveness, and American agriculture. That’s why I’ve been very involved in the entire process – meeting with Agriculture Chairman GT Thompson, visiting farms throughout my district, and listening to the suggestions and concerns of Iowa farmers and our agricultural community. The conversations that I have had with my Agriculture Advisory Board and with farmers and producers on my agriculture tour have informed my priorities for rural Iowa, which are now included in the Farm Bill,” said Rep. Feenstra. “With the input and feedback of our producers back home, I worked to strengthen crop insurance protections, open new export markets for Iowa agriculture, gut wasteful spending in the SNAP program, overturn California’s Prop 12 mandates, and keep China away from our farmland. The Farm Bill also includes my work to expand broadband in rural Iowa, deliver fair market prices for our cattle producers, and invest in homegrown Iowa biofuels. These priorities reflect my discussions with Iowans and our shared mission to keep Iowa agriculture successful and our rural communities strong. I look forward to getting this must-pass legislation signed into law as soon as possible for the good of American agriculture.”

Feenstra introduced 10 bills included in the Farm Bill, either partially or in their entirety:

1. The Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act, which would extend vital crop and livestock insurance protections to new, beginning, and veteran farmers to lower their insurance payments during their most vulnerable time – the first ten years in business.
2. The Fortifying Refrigeration Infrastructure and Developing Global Exports (FRIDGE) Act, which would develop the infrastructure – including cold-chain storage and port improvements – to ship Iowa beef, chicken, turkey, pork, grains, specialty crops, and other perishable goods worldwide and diversify our trading partners.
3. The Safe American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which would codify USDA’s role in negotiating regionalization agreements that allow livestock, poultry, and other animal products to be safely exported in the event of an animal disease outbreak.
4. The Foreign Agricultural Restrictions to Maintain Local Agriculture and National Defense (FARMLAND) Act, which would enhance oversight on foreign land ownership by increasing transparency, requiring reporting on farmland owned by our adversaries, and imposing penalties on any person knowingly falsifying Agriculture and Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) filings.
5. The Rural Broadband Modernization Act, which would provide grants and loans to rural communities to help expand rural broadband access, construct the necessary infrastructure for broadband deployment, and prioritize areas that lack access to broadband.
6. The Snap Back Inaccurate SNAP Payments Act, which would strengthen the integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – commonly referred to as SNAP – by cutting down on overpayments of SNAP benefits.
7. The Farmers First Act, which would expand and improve behavioral health services in rural communities and connect farmers and those in times of crisis with trained medical professionals to receive the personalized care that they need.
8. The Genome to Phenome Initiative Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize the Genome to Phenome Initiative to support continued research at Iowa State University to increase crop yields – particularly corn – while keeping costs low for Iowans.
9. The Livestock Indemnity Program Improvement Act, which would cut the timeframe for payment rate adjustments from the Livestock Indemnity Program down from annually to every three months so that our producers and their families receive a fair and accurate price for their livestock when severe storms strike or animal disease spreads. 
10. The Precision Agriculture Loan Program Act, which would promote precision agriculture loans to help farmers lower their water usage, increase yields, and decrease input costs.

Feenstra co-led 7 bills included in the Farm Bill, either partially or in their entirety:

11. The Future FARMER Act, which would reauthorize the Food and Agricultural Sciences Education account in the Farm Bill and fund the Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) program, which currently supports agriculture education initiatives for about 160,000 students and 3,000 teachers across Iowa.
12. The Farm to Fly Act, which would add a definition of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to programs at the USDA, advance SAF research and development, and include SAF in USDA bio-energy initiatives.
13. The Advancing Cutting Edge (ACE) Agriculture Act, which would promote the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AgARDA) administered through the USDA.
14. The Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States (A-PLUS) Act, which would expedite the safe processing of beef and allow livestock auction market owners to invest in small packing facilities that help lower meat prices for families and cut red tape for Iowa cattle producers.
15. The Butcher Block Act, which would unlock access to grants and affordable loans to help small and family-owned meat processors improve and expand their operations.
16. The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which would allow schools to serve nutritious, whole milk to their students.
17. The Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act, which would help overturn California’s Proposition 12 mandates on Iowa hog farmers.

Feenstra cosponsored 8 bills included in the Farm Bill, either partially or in their entirety:

18. The Foreign Animal Disease Prevention, Surveillance, and Rapid Response Act, which would reauthorize three programs – the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank – that make up the three-legged stool of animal health that help defend American agriculture from devastating animal disease outbreaks.
19. The Agriculture Export Promotion Act, which would double the funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program to support exports of American agricultural products.
20. The Community College Agriculture Advancement Act, which would equip community and technical colleges with the resources they need to expand agriculture education for their students and the next generation of farmers.
21. The Beagle Brigade Act, which would authorize the National Detector Dog Training Center to train dogs to sniff out invasive pests and foreign animal diseases and keep them from entering our country.
22. The Biochar Research Network Act, which would establish a National Biochar Research Network to conduct research on these substances and better understand the benefits for Iowa farmers.
23. The Increased TSP Access Act, which would help our producers access, navigate, and enroll in voluntary conservation programs administered through the USDA.
24. The Beginning Agriculturist Lifetime Employment (BALE) Act, which would help farmers and producers access affordable credit and loans to fund and expand their farm operations.
25. The Healthy Dog Importation Act, which would help the USDA ensure that any dogs being imported into the United States are healthy before being officially admitted.

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