Friday, I invited Congressman Marion Berry, from Arkansas’ First Congressional District, who also serves on the Agriculture Committee, to join me as I travel to Pine Bluff, McGehee, El Dorado, Texarkana, and Arkadelphia to hold town hall meetings to talk to local farmers and leaders in the agriculture community about issues affecting south Arkansas farmers and their families. 

I also announced the formation of my Agriculture Advisory Council, through which I plan to bring in representatives from all different sectors of the agriculture community to listen directly to their needs so that I can best represent the row crop farmers, livestock owners, and poultry and timber producers back home. 

I believe the current Freedom to Farm law is not working.  We have fewer farm families in America than ever before.  We need to provide a safety net for our farmers that takes into account events out of their control such as low market prices and extreme weather conditions.  I will work hard as Congress prepares to formulate the future of America’s agriculture policy to ensure the farm families of south Arkansas can continue farming for many generations to come.

(From our Nation’s Capitol, this is Mike Ross—your United States Congressman—with another Legislative Update.)