Chellie Pingree

We also have some creative ideas that may require some support from the Committee in the next farm bill.

The early adopters are also rewarded in the system, the folks who have been doing this all along.

Climate-smart is the new buzz but organic has always been soil-smart, and that is built into what the production practices are all about.

I want to thank you for all your strong leadership and support on helping get that Origin of Livestock rule across the finish line.

We are talking so much about the convergence between climate change and agriculture.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I appreciate your holding this hearing.

We believe the structure of the NOP should be updated to allow for prioritizing standards and market development along with maintaining strong compliance and enforcement.

The Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act

I have a bill called the Hemp Advancement Act of 2022 (H.R. 6645) that really deals with some of the statutory changes...

I can't thank you enough.

Do you think there is something we should be looking at when it comes to the 2018 Farm Bill and LAMP to make sure that this is a possibility and it is covered?

I appreciate some of the conversations people have been having about streamlining the process.

The Agriculture Resilience Act calls for robust investments in Federal conservation programs.

I am a little concerned about in the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program, $150 million investment for projects up to $25 million.

We have some issues in Maine related to ReConnect, and I feel like I have been bringing this up for a while.

Questions Submitted by Hon. Chellie Pingree, a Representative in Congress from Maine

I ran out of time in my last question, so I just want to reinforce the issue I was bringing up about PFAS, and encourage you, and I am happy to follow up with this, to have NRCS doing more, supporting more of the soil testing.

I have been interested in this for a long time, and pushing NRCS to adopt composting as a conservation practice for several years.

And when we talk about EQIP, we are looking at how do we make it more flexible?

We have identified 81 enhancements in the CSP that we think have the best chance to help us with the climate crisis.

This is a devastating problem, and we have to support it much more.

Maine has been a little bit ahead of the curve on testing for PFAS contamination.

We know it is getting worse, not better.

We think this is a much-needed and important complement to the farm bill conservation programs.

The more we can do to expand those local networks is really important.