Farm Bureau Issues Support for Several Senate Spending Bill Amendments

As the Senate considers amendments to a 2019 spending package (H.R. 6147) that includes funding for USDA and the departments of the Interior, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, the American Farm Bureau Federation is asking lawmakers to prioritize the issues important to U.S. farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

In a July 25 letter to senators, AFBF President Zippy Duvall indicated the organization’s support for a number of amendments to the bill, including two USDA-specific amendments; One would direct the secretary of Agriculture to research opportunities for expanding aquaculture and ocean farming, while the other would provide funding for programs that promote investment in the dairy sector.

Two transportation-related amendments—one that would provide an additional 150 air-miles in radius exemption for hours of service for those transporting agricultural commodities and another that would create a working group to focus on improving the livestock, insect and agricultural commodities transport industries—have Farm Bureau’s backing.

The organization also supports an amendment that would repeal the definition of the “Waters of the United States,” as well as one that would direct the secretary of the Interior to reissue a final rule related to the listing of the gray wolf in the Western Great Lake and prevent the final rule from being subject to judicial review.