Ricketts: Ag Background as Governor Critical to Farm Bill Process

A freshman Senator says he’ll use his experience as governor of an agricultural state to help lawmakers understand the importance of the farm bill.

Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts tells Brownfield he will engage with Senators who may be skeptical about certain areas of the legislation. “And, talking with them about how important it is to have a strong ag economy. Food security has got to be the number one security issue for our country. If we can’t feed our own country, then we are going to be very vulnerable to other countries cutting us off.”

Ricketts uses the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as an example. “One of the things we did with SNAP Next Step was offer our job coaches with the Department of Labor to families on SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps, to be able to help them reduce their reliance on food stamps.”

He says providing additional support through market access programs is another priority, and would help develop markets in the European Union.

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