As the 2023 Farm Bill continues to take shape, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, announced an "Agriculture Advisory Board" on Wednesday morning during a town hall event at Alpha Ag Research in Sanborn, Iowa.
The 60-member panel, which will have Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig as its honorary chairman, features agricultural representatives from all 36 counties that make up the Fourth Congressional District Feenstra has served since 2021. Included among the ag reps will be those from the corn, soybean, pork, beef, turkey, dairy, egg, cattle, goat, seed, fertilizer, veterinary medicine, equipment manufacturing, FFA, conservation, agricultural lending and research and development industries, according to the two-term Congressman's office.
"I am excited to announce my Agriculture Advisory Board as we work together to pass a strong Farm Bill that benefits Iowa," Feenstra said of the announcement. "Between crop insurance and international trade to biofuels production and rural development, every title of the Farm Bill impacts Iowa agriculture and our economic vitality."
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Naig, whose family has a century farm in Palo Alto County, said he applauded Feenstra for putting together a group to try and pinpoint crucial Farm Bill priorities for Iowa.
"Iowa needs a strong Farm Bill, and we are fortunate to have Congressman Feenstra delivering for us in Congress and on the House Agriculture Committee," Naig said in a release.
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, right, looks a bed of plants as Tom Paulsen, department head of applied agriculture and food studies talks Wednesday…
The last Farm Bill Congress passed came in 2018 and it's set to expire in September of this year. The legislation focuses on a myriad of issues including commodity programs, conservation, trade, credit, rural development, energy and nutrition programs.
NPR noted in February that the lion's share of spending in the bill is related to nutrition. This year, Republican Congressmembers have raised the possibility of altering requirements for the SNAP program which works to help low-income people afford food. During a February stop to Morningside University's Rosen Ag Center, for the launch of his "Agriculture Tour", Feenstra said he wanted to see a food assistance program that wasn't just giving people a paycheck but getting them "out of poverty."
"We are desperate for workers in the agricultural arena," he said at the time.
The Agriculture Advisory Board Feenstra helped put together to identify what's most needed in a 2023 bill is set to have its first meeting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22. The board will include:
- Dr. Calie Burgart, Audubon County
- Former State Senator Jerry Behn, Boone County
- Mitchell Sievers, Buena Vista County
- Andy Kosky, Buena Vista County
- Darcy Maulsby, Calhoun County
- State Representative Mike Sexton, Calhoun County
- Will Reever, Carroll County
- Ramona Nitz, Cherokee County
- Chad Tentinger, Cherokee County
- Will Jones, Clay County
- Ty Rosburg, Crawford County
- Al Giese, Dickinson County
- Jim Boyer, Emmet County
- John Latham, Franklin County
- State Representative Shannon Latham, Franklin County
- Brian Borcherding, Franklin County
- Don Latham, Franklin County
- Leo Ettleman, Fremont County
- Sam Martin, Fremont County
- Jeff Jorgenson, Fremont County
- Ben Slinger, Hamilton County
- Jake Van Diest, Hamilton County
- Darrin Kruger, Hancock County
- Tony Smith, Harrison County
- Nick Nielsen, Humboldt County
- Jolene Riessen, Ida County
- Sara Winkleman, Kossuth County
- Dean Meyer, Lyon County
- Dwight Mogler, Lyon County
- Doug Stensland, Lyon County
- Scott Schneidermann, Lyon County
- State Senator Jeff Edler, Marshall County
- Wyatt Edler, Marshall County
- State Representative David Sieck, Mills County
- Dan Witten, Monona County
- Kelly Nieuwenhuis, O’Brien County
- Jeremy Van Ess, O’Brien County
- Corey Rozenboom, O’Brien County
- Rob Jacobs, Osceola County
- Eric Bruhn, Palo Alto County
- Andy Schroeder, Plymouth County
- Don Kass, Plymouth County
- Darin Dykstra, Plymouth County
- Grant Wells, Pocahontas County
- Chris Perdue, Pottawattamie County
- Chad Hansen, Sac County
- Gabe Ferry, Shelby County
- Brad Kooima, Sioux County
- Steve Rehder, Sioux County
- Craig Moss, Sioux County
- JT Dean, Sioux County
- Jeff Altena, Sioux County
- Bill Couser, Story County
- Marty Chitty, Story County
- John Fredrickson, Webster County
- Gregg Hora, Webster County
- Jacob West, Winnebago County
- Barbara Sloniker, Woodbury County
- Mark Nelson, Woodbury County
- Ethan Lambert, Wright County
