Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson was reelected as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in dramatic fashion on Friday as the 119th Congress got underway. Johnson eventually secured the necessary 218 Republican votes after a couple representatives changed their position before the final tally.
Read MoreAs you may have heard, Congress was finally successful late into Friday night in passing a Continuing Resolution that included many priorities we worked very hard to achieve. The House passed the measure 366-34-1 with all Louisiana members voting in favor. The Senate passed the resolution 85-11, Cassidy supporting and Kennedy opposing.
Read MoreHouse Republicans tried and failed Thursday evening to fast-track a measure to keep the government funded through a maneuver that required a two-thirds majority, pushing the government closer to a shutdown.
The new deal would extend government funding for three months, suspend the debt limit until January 2027 and provide $110 billion in disaster aid. It also includes health care policy extenders, funding for rebuilding Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and a renewal of the farm bill for one year.
Read MoreLouisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain discussing the importance of self-reliance and the Farm Bill. Strain emphasizes the need for countries to achieve self-reliance to buy American products, highlighting the strength of the U.S. dollar. He notes that while countries need to be self-reliant, the U.S. must help them achieve this to maintain trade relationships.
Strain outlines the U.S. strategy to diversify trade by engaging with smaller, less-traveled countries, moving away from reliance on major partners like China.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall delivered a letter to Congress urging elected leaders to stand with farmers as they reconsider the contents of a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government and potentially offer a lifeline to farmers and ranchers. Below are excerpts from the letter.
“Any alternative Continuing Resolution (CR) must include: a farm bill extension, aid to rebuild after natural disasters, economic assistance to bridge the gap until we can get to a new farm bill, and year-round E-15 sales.”
Read MoreCongress appears to have failed to reach a consensus Wednesday on a Continuing Resolution.
We're grateful to you, our grassroots members, for taking the time let your representatives in Washington, D.C. know Louisiana agriculture cannot be ignored.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall today is asking Congress to pass the continuing resolution bill that includes support for farmers.
“I know I speak for farmers across the country when I say thank you to Speaker Johnson, Leaders Jeffries, Schumer and McConnell, and many other members of Congress for recognizing the incredibly difficult agricultural economy by including in the year-end legislation: much-needed economic assistance for farmers; emergency aid for communities devastated by natural disasters; a farm bill extension; and for making E-15 available at fuel pumps all year long.
Read MoreThe Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President & CEO Daren Coppock released the following statement with concerns that Congress may neglect critical payments needed by growers as legislators work on the year-end continuing resolution this week.
Read MoreNational Sorghum Producers Chair Amy France, a sorghum farmer from Scott City, Kansas, released the following statement of concern over Congress’ inability to include economic relief for producers in the year-end supplemental legislation. NSP is urging lawmakers from farm states to reject the bill if it fails to include this vital assistance.
Read MoreAs members of Congress representing districts where farming and ranching keep our rural communities alive, we know the challenges producers endure to provide for our country. However, inflation, high interest rates, and erratic weather have driven many farmers across the country to the breaking point.
Farmers need relief in the form of an updated farm bill, and Congress must act. Instead of adjusting the 2018 farm bill to provide reasonable support, Congress extended this legislation in September 2023 without meaningful reforms.
Read MoreAmerican Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall today expressed disappointment that Congress appears to turn a blind eye to the agricultural recession in its year-end supplemental legislation. Duvall calls on farm state members to oppose the bill if economic aid for farmers is missing.
Read MoreU.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, urged Congress to provide emergency economic assistance to agricultural producers facing market losses.
“It’s clear the pain our farm families are living through,” Boozman said in remarks on the Senate floor. “For some producers, this is the second or third consecutive year of negative cash flow. This means many farm families are ending 2024 in the red, unable to pay off this year’s operating loan, unable to get the loan to farm in 2025, and face the reality of being the generation to have lost the family farm due to extreme market conditions beyond their control.”
Read MoreLouisiana Governor Jeff Landry, along with 16 other Republican Governors across the United States, signed a letter urging the U.S. congressional leadership to pass a new federal farm bill, following the expiration of the previous iteration on September 30, 2024.
The federal bill was last passed in 2018 and then had its lifetime extended to the 2024 deadline following the failure of a new farm bill to be passed in 2023; something that is seen as irregular with a new bill being traditionally passed by Congress every five years.
Read MoreA group of 17 Republican governors has sent a joint letter to Congress urging passage of an updated Farm Bill.
The most recent Farm Bill, which federal lawmakers approved early in President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, expired in September.
Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp joined the GOP governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia in signing the letter.
Read MoreLast week, more than five dozen rice industry representatives from all sectors traveled here in what may be a final push to get the Farm Bill across the finish line in the lame duck Congress, and to discuss the need for economic loss assistance for rice farmers for the 2024 crop year.
Before fanning out across the Capitol, the group gathered to hear updates and policy analysis, and pose questions to ag policy thought leaders and officials.
