I am greatly worried about the future of hunger in America with respect to your recent proposal to cut funding for SNAP.

I am also committed to providing a strong crop insurance program.

I want to hear how these Federal policies are affecting producers in the Northeast, but the main concern of our hearing will be how the farm bill affects specialty crops and dairy producers.

I want to give producers the tools to help you do what you do best and that is produce the safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply in the world.

While specialty crops do not participate in traditional commodity programs, there are other Federal programs that play an important role in helping American fruit, vegetable and nursery crop growers to stay competitive.

I can tell you from experience that what works here in Illinois will not work as well for my constituents in Oklahoma.

I am a big advocate for alternative fuels and have been for a long, long time.

I like doing things in the neighborhood, coming from just across the line to the south.

It is vitally important that the commodity title give producers options so they can choose the program that best works for them.

I am also aware that the death tax is creating difficulties for farming operations.

Today we'll hear from a selection of producers. Unfortunately, we just don't have time to hear from everybody who would like to share their perspective.

My producers in Oklahoma are concerned and worried about regulations coming down from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Field hearings are one of the most important parts of the farm bill process.

The broad range of agricultural production makes our country strong, and it also creates challenges when you are trying to write a single farm bill.

These field hearings are a continuation of what my friend and Ranking Member Collin Peterson started in the spring of 2010.

As I said before, we don't have an easy road ahead of us, but I'm confident that by working together we can craft a farm bill that continues to support the success story that American agriculture is.

This hearing of the Committee on Agriculture entitled, The Future of U.S. Farm Policy: Formulation of the 2012 Farm Bill, will come to order.

While I do not expect unanimity among dairy industry participants, we never get unanimity among farmers in general, I do encourage all industry participants, producers and processors alike, to find some level of consensus regarding the…

Farmers and ranchers across the country continue to face hardships because of their missing funds, and have lost confidence in the futures system.

Making policy without regard to the economic consequences is a luxury we cannot afford even in the strongest of economies.

This hearing of the Committee on Agriculture to review the Commodity Futures Trading Commission 2012 agenda will come to order.

Our constituents need more than empty reassurances.

First and foremost on the CFTC's agenda for the coming year must be its investigation into the collapse of MF Global and its missing customer funds.

Dozens of my constituents have been left not only without their property but also without answers about why and how this happened.

This Committee will continue to monitor the investigation into MF Global's actions and will work to ensure that customers receive fair treatment throughout this entire process.