Rae Oliver Davis

the good news is we are building on a record of bipartisan work and accomplishments.

Where is that access to good food for those individuals who may not live in urban areas?

This is what helps us get a good farm bill. It's what helped us the last time. It's what's going to help us in 2018.

it's vital that we invest in public agricultural research. Organic agriculture is the future of American agriculture and we need more research for organic farming.

This is the type of success story I hope we can all gather around as we move into the next farm bill.

Food safety, food security, and the ability to produce high-quality food at a low price... is going to be significant.

I don't have nothing to yell at the Canadians about.

Today's hearing continues our series where each of the six Subcommittees look at all aspects of the next farm bill.

I'm excited to be here. It's great to be able to serve on the Agriculture Committee with Chairman Conaway and Ranking Member Peterson.

The 2014 Farm Bill developed and extended many highly successful programs that have helped the specialty crop industry.

We enjoy the safest, most affordable, and most abundant food supply in the world in large part due to sustained public investment in agricultural research.

I do believe it is important to highlight that other Subcommittees' work directly impacts specialty crop producers.

We want to get the benefits and the food to those families and those individuals who need it the most.

The sheer diversity of the category, ranging from fruits and vegetables, to tree nuts, nursery crops, and floriculture, makes the task of developing specialty crop policies particularly challenging.

We have to be very careful about a Federal mandate that would create, whether perverse incentives or not, the right opportunities for states like New Mexico to make productive decisions that support families who are really in need.

This is my third listening session out of the five, and this is an opportunity for us to sit back and understand what it means to be involved in agriculture.

I'm Rodney Davis from central Illinois. We actually do not have many speciality crops in the 14 counties that I serve.

As we move forward, you mentioned cellulosic opportunities, what is the status right now of moving ahead on more cellulosic opportunities to make our homegrown fuels more secure?

We want to increase the amounts of healthy foods that are served in our school cafeterias.

I am very appreciative of my good friend, Ms. Fudge, who is one of my co-leaders in trying to ensure that our TEFAP funding is stable for those who need it the most.

Cost is the main driver for so many of my school districts who are under-funded.

It is up to each and every one of you to continue that trend.

What he constantly reminds us of, from his perch in his chair, is that agriculture is different everywhere you are.

Unfortunately, it is not the shining, sleek, high-speed rail at the high speed we would like to see.

DOL's aggressive move puts rural America at a huge disadvantage.