Eyes On The House

Eyes On The House. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

It’s the House’s turn this week to pass their version of the farm bill and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is ready for some action.

VILSACK: People often call this the farm bill but there is so much more than that to this bill. This is a conservation bill. It’s a trade promotion bill. It’s an innovation bill. And it’s a jobs bill. It’a also a bill that will help continue the increase in markets for locally grown foods. This includes creating more farmers markets, building additional regional food hubs and strengthening programs that bring local foods to institutions like schools. USDA has had a very successful farmers market promotion program that has increased the number of farmers markets by 67% since 2008. The Senate bill expands these efforts through a new farmers market and local food promotion program. This program wold help producers continue to sell their product through farmers markets but it would also help farmers who are ready to scale up and sell to a local grocery store or other institution. The Food, Farm and Jobs bill would also help farmers develop new value added products for local or regional sale. And it strengthens infrastructure that producers can use to grow a better crop for local markets. So this Food, Farm and Jobs bill isn’t just needed by America’s farmers and ranchers, it’s important for all of us who enjoy fresh, local foods at farmers markets. It’s important to ensure our nations youngsters have access to healthy, fresh foods and it’s important to help create new economic opportunity in rural America. These are all good reasons why Congress must get a Food, Farms and Jobs bill passed as swiftly as possible.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.