Agriculture is a key part of Alabama’s diverse economy, providing food and fiber for the United States and the world and quality jobs for Alabamians. Our state’s farmers, seafood producers, and timber owners are some of the most efficient and productive in the nation, generating over 20 percent of Alabama’s economy. Senator Sessions, a native of rural Wilcox County, consistently champions policies that support Alabama’s farmers and promote a secure food supply for America.

In the Senate, Sessions fights to maintain a strong safety net for Southern agriculture and to promote our rural economies. He supports common-sense reforms that, over the long-term, will help in the effort to reduce, not grow, the involvement of government in the agriculture sector. He supports affordable crop insurance for farmers, cost-effective loan programs, conservation, and technical assistance and disaster assistance programs. He believes that, given a level playing field, Alabama’s farmers can compete with any in the world. He supports efforts to give farmers and their families the certainty they need to make prudent planting decisions and to select the programs that best meet their needs. Alabama farmers have a critical role to play to help our nation remain a global leader in the production of food and fiber, which is critical to our economic and national security. In addition, Senator Sessions unwaveringly fights against fraud, waste, and abuse in the food stamp program which, regrettably, now consumes almost 80% of all federal farm bill dollars, and he strongly opposes measures that ask our farmers to accept a disproportionate share of cuts to the programs that they rely upon.

Sessions has passed legislation to increase the availability of key vaccines and medicines for poultry and livestock. He has pushed for tougher inspection of foreign seafood products and has fought to ensure a fair playing field for Alabama catfish producers by reforming American trade policies.

He has supported common-sense proposals that promote the reasonable use of corn ethanol, cellulosic fuels, and other renewable energy resources, while also fighting against unwarranted and excessive federal environmental regulations that create unnecessary hardships for Alabama farmers. He has also led efforts in the Senate to promote agricultural irrigation in states, like Alabama, where irrigation has not been historically used. And he has advanced federal tax reforms that reduce burdens on Alabama farmers and timber owners.