Glenn Thompson: “During the August recess I had the pleasure of hosting one of my favorite annual events, an agriculture summit in…”

“During the August recess I had the pleasure of hosting one of my favorite annual events, an agriculture summit in Cresson, Pennsylvania, Cambria County. The event took place for the second year in a row at Mount Aloysius College, and I was pleased to have several special guests join me, both in person and virtually. Participating in the summit to lend their expertise were: USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey; Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding; and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President, Rick Ebert. Joining our discussion were nearly 100 virtual attendees from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our discussion centered around a number of important policy issues impacting our Nation's farmers, including a discussion on what they hope to see in the next round of coronavirus relief. I always look for opportunities to engage directly with farmers and ranchers and producers and processors. This year's agriculture summit provided valuable feedback about how the pandemic has affected rural America; feedback that will be critical as Congress continues to address the impacts of the pandemic on the agricultural sector. Prior to the coronavirus, the farm economy had been in a multiyear slump. Just as things were starting to look up, with USMCA signed into law and new trade deals in the works, this pandemic hit all of us hard, particularly our farm families.…”