Representative Joe Courtney

Agriculture

More than sixty percent of Connecticut is comprised of farmland, open space and forest of which 2,000 farms call esatern Connecticut home alone. Unlike the farms of the midwest and south, eastern Connecticut specializes in fruits, vegetables and nursery crops and small dairy farms. I have cosponsored comprehensive legislation that invests in the needs of Connecticut farmers, including improving conservation programs on working lands, expanding the fruit and vegetable programs in schools across the state, and providing access to healthy foods and specialty crop assistance. I will work with my Connecticut colleagues to ensure that these regional priorities are addressed in the reauthorization of the Farm Bill of 2007. In addition, I support extending the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program that dairy farmers in eastern Connecticut and around the country depend on for their viability.