Agricultural News
Inhofe Touts Farm Bill, Denounces Green New Deal, Praises Trump in One-on-One with Ron Hays
Tue, 02 Apr 2019 15:11:58 CDT
This week, Farm Bureau members will be in Washington, DC to speak with some of our nation's policy leaders about agricultural issues, including Oklahoma's Senior Senator Jim Inhofe. Prior to the Senator's scheduled meeting with them, he joined Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays over the phone from his DC office to discuss a few of the topics likely to be brought up during this annual fly-in with industry stakeholders - issues like the implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill and its programs, the implications of the Green New Deal for agriculture and the President's continued focus on border security. You can listen to Hays' full interview with Sen. Inhofe, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below at the bottom of the page.
One thing that Inhofe says Farm Bureau members and all those in the ag community should be excited about is the process that is moving forward to implement the policies and programs of the 2018 Farm Bill. In particular, he brought attention to two provisions in the bill that he is especially proud of. One, stemming from his own amendment in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, would grant livestock producers grazing access to CRP lands in times of an emergency.
"We had that disastrous fire out in western Oklahoma- there is nothing sadder than seeing cows and horses that are burning to death," Inhofe said, recounting his tour of the damage. "Some of the things we learned out there was that people need to be able graze CRP land after a wildfire like that. Otherwise, there's no place they can use for grazing. We have corrected that."
Secondly, Inhofe is also very enthusiastic about the Farm Bill's provisions that will allow young and beginning producers greater access to USDA loans and assistance programs to help them establish their emerging agribusiness ventures.
The Senator also took a hard stance on the Green New Deal, proposed by Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York. Inhofe joined his colleagues in the US Senate this past week in striking down the proposed legislation in a vote that exposed what little support the bill actually had from both sides of the aisle. Inhofe denounced the legislation as being "completely socialist" and remarked on his inability to believe such a proposal was introduced by a United States Senator.
"I'm afraid I'll lose my credibility here if I start talking about how bad that thing is," he exclaimed. "Don't worry about it though because it's not going to happen, it's already been rejected."
What farmers and ranchers should be paying attention to however, Inhofe says, is the process to revise the 2015 Waters of the US rule, currently in the public comment period. He says this process continues to move forward and "help is on the way."
Regarding the President's efforts to appropriate funding for border security, the Senator expressed his support and emphasized the necessity of the measures proposed by President Trump.
"That's a big issue and it's one we're going to win on," he said. "There's going to be some kind of restriction - whether you want to call it a wall or whatever - this is one that the American people are behind the President on."
Listen the Hays' full conversation with Inhofe to hear the Senator's full remarks on these issues and others, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below.
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