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Congressman Boozman with Fort Smith Citizens Academy graduate Linsey Yates of Ramona Roberts Realty and Deputy City Administrator Ray Gosack View Photo
More photos Congressman Boozman and the people of the Third District

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Agriculture

As a former cattle rancher, I understand the important role the agricultural industry has in our economy. This is especially true in Arkansas, where it is the top industry in the state's economy. We have a responsibility to protect and promote America's agriculture communities.

Since I have come to Congress, we have worked hard to pass a number of laws that help Arkansas' agricultural community. The 110th Congress saw the passing of many laws benefiting Arkansas farmers and ranchers, the most important being H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill. This legislation reauthorized programs that help Arkansas farmers and ranchers while making reforms to improve programs and protect taxpayers.

One of the most important things we can do in Congress for our farmers is to open new markets for their products. Free and fair trade is vital to Arkansas' farmers if they want to be able to compete in today's global economy. To that end, I am proud to say I have worked to support our farmers by helping to pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation and the Central-America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Both these important bills will help increase the output and revenue for Arkansas' farmers by giving then more markets in which to sell their goods.

Arkansas' farmers are increasingly facing high costs for energy, fertilizer, and other inputs. While it is important for our nation to develop alternative sources of renewable energy for the future, I oppose the increased mandate of fuel production from food based commodities such as corn. The recent artificial demand for corn created by certain alternative fuel mandates has driven up the cost of feed for Arkansas' livestock producers and threatens the global food supply. On the other hand, I do support cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel production from non food-based feedstocks.

I believe there is still a lot to be done legislatively to help promote America's agricultural industry including eliminating the death tax, continuing to open new markets for our farmers and - in Arkansas specifically - ensuring that our farmers are not made the scapegoats for our region's water quality problems. I am dedicated to working hard to ensure a bright and better future for American agriculture.

Congressional Research Service Reports:

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. CRS, which is a department of the Library of Congress, works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress.

CRS Reports are in PDF format. In order to view these files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC. You can download the free reader from Adobe's website. These files may be rather large and may take a few minutes to download.

U.S. Farm Economy

Agriculture Issues in the 109th Congress

Previewing the 2007 Farm Bill

Agricultural Disaster Assitance Programs