New U.S. House Ag Chairman plans a year of education

Farm and Ranch December 27, 2010 The man who will take over chairmanship of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee in the new Congress in January, Republican Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, is in no rush to get to work on a 2012 Farm Bill. Lucas says he will spend all of 2011 educating new members of the ag committee on farm policy and environmental mandates ahead of the farm bill rewrite.

Lucas: “We are going to look at the programs of the 2008 Farm Bill. We are going to look at rules proposed not only by USDA but EPA and a variety of other agencies. And we are going to try and make sure that everything that is being done is in accordance with federal law. We are going to try to make sure that everything that is being done is done in a way that reflects scientific fact. And we are also going to examine the economic impact of the proposals that are being considered. And in that way not only will I educate my new Republicans on the House Ag Committee, and there are going to be a whole bunch, but also develop and create that understanding with my colleagues across the aisle so that we together in 2012 can write that new farm bill.”

Lucas says finding enough money for the commodity title will be the biggest challenge in writing the 2012 Farm Bill. The congressman also says he will work to make sure the new farm bill is a market-oriented and fiscally responsible bill that will provide American farmers and ranchers with the necessary tools and certainty they need.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.