The Moore You Know Ag Update

Hi, friends –

While there is a lot of uncertainty on Capitol Hill these days between government funding and House leadership, there is one thing we can be certain of: newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson wants to pass a farm bill by December. The farmers, ranchers, foresters and invested stakeholders in Alabama Second Congressional District can hopefully rest a little easier knowing the House leader supports a strong and swift 2023 Farm Bill Reauthorization.

Please keep reading to learn more about House Agriculture Committee activity, Farm Bill engagement, and other resources you may find helpful.

Sincerely,

Congressman Barry Moore

Committee Happenings

The House Committee on Agriculture held the majority of its 2023 Farm Bill hearings last Congress and earlier this year. While the committee’s public calendar is quiet, committee staff is at work with Member offices, House leadership and the Four Corners - majority and minority staffs in both Congressional chambers - to continue drafting base text.

While the House Agriculture Committee has primary referral on farm bill issues, other committees work alongside authroizers to carry out agricultural programming. See some relevant committee activity below:

Doing Moore For You

H.R. 5096: Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act

Unfortunately, highly pathogenic avian influenza is sweeping across the country again. Now more than ever, it’s important that contract poultry growers have risk management tools available when unavoidable, total loss impacts their current and near-term flocks.

H.Res. 760: National 4-H Week Resolution

Recently, I joined my colleagues in the 4-H Caucus to designate the week of Oct. 1 as National 4-H Week to celebrate young agricultural leaders. Through youth development, mentorship and education, the National 4-H Council is developing the next generation of leaders in agriculture.

ICYMI

U.S. Department of Agriculture Announces Key Staff Appointments

On Oct. 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced several senior staff positions in their Washington office. Tate Mitchell, Rudy Soto and Steffanie Bezruki will now serve as Chief of Staff for the Office of Communications, Deputy Secretary for the Office of Congressional Relations and Senior Advisor for the Office of the Deputy Secretary respectively.

Read USDA's press release here.

Nutrition policy oversight

Recently, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service issued a proposed rule to “improve” their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program quality control protocols. With the nutrition title consuming more than 80 percent of the farm bill’s mandatory baseline at a time when the farm gate is in real trouble, I can appreciate oversight on SNAP; however, the USDA is trying to administratively codify phone interviews as the primary avenue of identity verification when auditing benefit recipients for fraud. Simply put, USDA is attempting to remove the “human” from human services.

Would you like to see oversight on USDA-FNS' proposed rule?

Yes

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The Moore You Should Know Ag Update newsletter is a monthly update on all things agricultural policy and 2023 Farm Bill as Congress works to reauthorize farm and rural programming vital to Alabama's Second Congressional District. If you do not already receive this newsletter regularly and would like to, please fill out the survey below to subscribe.