Hey, good afternoon, everybody, and thank you to all the witnesses that are here today for lending your expertise to this incredibly important hearing.

Crop insurance has been the number one tool on our farm that has really provided me the opportunity.

It is a little scary knowing where we are at, and so that is why it is so important to get it right.

It is to make sure that the John Deere tractors keep farming my farm for generations to come.

This letter to the Budget Committee clearly articulated the needs and justifications for additional resources to write a meaningful farm bill.

it will be incumbent upon us to navigate the politics to get the best possible farm bill to the President's desk.

I have heard loud and clear that the farm safety net, both commodity policy and crop insurance, needs improvements.

Many of you mentioned Federal crop insurance in your testimony. As you well know, there have been attempts in Congress to gut the program by imposing an adjusted gross income means testing, payment limits, things like that.

These improvements will come with a price tag, which is why it was so critical that Ranking Member Scott and myself were able to craft a strong budget views and estimates letter.

To get the policy right, we need to hear directly from the folks in the countryside instead of voices within the beltway.

We thank their bipartisan leadership and echo many of the sentiments raised in that letter.

Today, the countryside is coming to us, and I am very pleased that we will hear directly from producers about the priorities of ten national commodity groups.