Issues Home

  • Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit

    Austin Scott Chairman David Scott Ranking Member Jurisdiction Policies, statutes, and markets relating to commodity exchanges; agricultural credit; rural development; energy; rural electrification. Majority Members Randy Neugebauer Bob Goodlatte Fra...

  • Focus on Farm Economy

    Over the past three years, net farm income has fallen by 56 percent, the largest three-year percentage decline in net farm income since the Great Depression. With no relief in sight, it is more important now than ever to protect the Farm Bill and pus...

  • Conservation and Forestry

    Glenn Thompson Chairman Michelle Lujan Grisham Ranking Member Jurisdiction Policies and statutes relating to resource conservation, forestry, and all forests under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture. Majority Members Frank D. Lucas Ste...

  • Nutrition

    Jackie Walorski Chairman Jim McGovern Ranking Member Jurisdiction Policies and statutes relating to nutrition, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and domestic commodity distribution and consumer initiatives. Majority Members Ran...

  • General Farm Commodities and Risk Management

    Rick Crawford Chairman Timothy J. Walz Ranking Member Jurisdiction Policies, statutes, and markets relating to commodities including barley, cotton, cottonseed, corn, grain sorghum, honey, mohair, oats, other oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, rice, so...

  • Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research

    Rodney Davis Chairman Suzan DelBene Ranking Member Jurisdiction Policies, statutes, and markets relating to horticulture, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and ornamentals; bees; and organic agriculture; policies and statutes relating to marketing...

  • Livestock and Foreign Agriculture

    David Rouzer Chairman Jim Costa Ranking Member Jurisdiction Policies, statutes, and markets relating to all livestock, poultry, dairy, and seafood, including all products thereof; the inspection, marketing, and promotion of such commodities and prod...

  • Conservation

    Conservation programs have grown significantly in size and scope over the last 25 years. The Agricultural Act of 2014 maintained the core functions and goals of the conservation title while eliminating or combining duplicative and overlapping program...

  • Food Transparency

    America’s farmers and ranchers provide the world with the safest, highest quality, most abundant, diverse and affordable supply of food and fiber mankind has ever known. With the population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, food production techno...

  • Innovation in Agriculture

    U.S. agriculture has a strong history of innovation to develop better and more efficient ways to feed Americans and the world. The committee has been supportive of this innovation in agriculture in many ways, including in the strong support of resear...

  • Markets and Finance

    America’s farmers, ranchers and end-users depend on well-functioning markets to manage their businesses and mitigate risk. The success of these markets benefits consumers, the economy, and business around the globe. Over the past several months, the ...

  • National Security

    Global food price spikes in 2008 and 2011 led to significant unrest and political instability around the world. Throughout that period, on average, Americans continued to spend less of their disposable income on food than any other nation on earth. W...

  • SNAP

    In anticipation of the next farm bill, which is still three years away, the committee has engaged in a top-to-bottom review of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Past, Present, and Future of SNAP. In the committee’s first seven hearin...

  • Trade/Food Aid

    In 2014, U.S. agriculture exports reached a record-setting $152.5 billion, and with the recently-passed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), Congress will be able to work alongside U.S. trade officials as they negotiate deals that could greatly expand ma...

  • Country of Origin Labeling

    First adopted in the 2002 Farm Bill, COOL has since been challenged in the World Trade Organization (WTO) by Canada and Mexico, main livestock exporters to the U.S., four times. Last month, the WTO's Appellate Body ruled against the United States’ Co...

  • CFTC Reauthorization

    "This bill codifies new practices instituted by the CFTC and other market regulators to protect customer margin, it includes a strong cost-benefit analysis measure to produce better rules, and it provides relief for end-users from burdensome requirem...

  • Farm Bill

    *Agricultural Act of 2014* The Agricultural Act of 2014 is the product of the House-Senate Farm Bill Conference. It is a five-year farm bill that reforms agricultural policy, reduces the deficit, and grows the economy. Text Statement of Managers Bill...