ARLINGTON, Va., May 24, 2024 — The House Agriculture Committee advanced a farm bill that includes several important provisions for the grain, feed and processing industry. The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 (H.R. 8472) passed out of committee on a 33-21 vote early on May 24.
National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) President and CEO Mike Seyfert issued the following statement:
“NGFA members know that you can’t begin working towards the end of harvest until that first load of grain or oilseeds is delivered each season. Similarly, you have to get out of the gate and take that first step with any farm bill to get it across the finish line. Farm bills always take many steps and bipartisan compromise. NGFA congratulates and thanks House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Pa., on passage of a farm bill out of the committee. NGFA looks forward to working with members on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate on the next steps that will get us to a final farm bill that is market oriented, focuses on working lands conservation, and strengthens our trade promotion programs.”
H.R. 8472 includes a Conservation Title with provisions to prioritize the enrollment of marginal land over productive farmland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and to retain the program’s current enrollment acreage cap. The Commodity Title maintains a market-oriented, decoupled farm program. Importantly, funding is doubled for the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD), both critical trade promotion programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
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The NGFA, established in 1896, consists of grain, feed, processing, exporting and other grain-related companies that operate facilities handling U.S. grains and oilseeds. Its membership includes grain elevators; feed and feed ingredient manufacturers; biofuels companies; grain and oilseed processors and millers; exporters; livestock and poultry integrators; and associated firms that provide goods and services to the nation’s grain, feed and processing industry. The NGFA consists of 27 affiliated State and Regional Grain and Feed Associations, is co-located and has a strategic alliance with North American Export Grain Association, and a strategic alliance with Pet Food Institute.