On Friday, April 24, over six dozen farmer-members, elected officials, community partners, and FFA students met to talk agriculture, legislation, and regulations. Thank you to Robinette’s for hosting the Kent County Farm Bureau Legislative Breakfast again—and for making their famous donuts just for us.
There were three main topics of conversation: the Farm Bill, deer herd management, and data centers. We’ll be sharing one article per topic this week.
Farm Bill
Congresswoman Hillary Scholten provided an update on when the Farm Bill might pass and on what it contains.
The House advanced it out of committee on March 5 with bi-partisan support. The Senate has not released their version of the Farm Bill yet. She said, “We’re really hoping there can be parity between those bills and we can just get it across the finish line. We know how important it is that we get this done, and frankly, it’s just unexcusable that we haven’t been able to deliver that in time for authorization.”
She outlined some of her priorities in the Bill, including enhancing access to erosion control funding, increased funding for rural health services, enhancing research and development for biological pest control, and the bi-partisan Promoting Access to Local Agriculture Act that removes red tape and administrative hurdles for farmers who want to participate in the SNAP Program.
Both Congresswoman Scholten and Congressman John Moolenaar continue to work on H2A labor issues. She said, “I’m a proud co-sponsor, with John Moolenaar, to freeze the AWER right now, but we’re also working on an initiative at the federal level to look again at how we are setting the AWER—many times this is based on faulty data and it’s not accurate or reflective of the prevailing wage across the country. So we’re working really closely with the administration on that.”
Contact Information
Congresswoman Scholten encouraged us to contact her office any time: "We want to hear from you, want to make sure that your priorities and West Michigan values are reflected in the Farm Bill going forward."
Here is contact information for all of Kent County's federal elected officials:
Congressman John Moolenaar: Washington D.C. office (202) 225-3561 | Caledonia office at (616) 528-7100 | email form on website https://moolenaar.house.gov/contact
Congresswoman Hillary Scholten: Washington D.C. office (202) 225-3831 | Grand Rapids office at (616) 451-8383 | email form on website https://scholten.house.gov/contact
Senator Gary Peters: Washington D.C. office (202) 224-6221 | Grand Rapids office at (616) 233-9150 | email form on website https://www.peters.senate.gov/contact
Senator Elissa Slotkin: Washington D.C. office (202) 224-4822 | Grand Rapids office at (616) 975-0052 | email form on website https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/contact
Our Kent County Farm Bureau President Bruce Klamer shared his experience of speaking with elected officials: "I was scared to approach them at first but they respect us. They're trying to do their best for all of us. They're all approachable. It's great to see how the system works--in spite of ourselves, it really does work."
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Thanks again to Robinette's for hosting the Legislative Breakfast. Thank you to Congresswoman Hillary Scholten, MI Sen. Thomas Albert, MI Rep. Gina Johnsen, MI Rep. Pat Outman, and MI Rep. Luke Meerman for attending in person. Thank you Senator Elissa Slotkin, Congressman John Moolenaar, MI Sen. Winnie Brinks, and MI Rep. Carol Glanville for sending staff members to the meeting. We enjoy the chance to meet fellow community leaders: Jerry Byrne of Kent County Road Commission, Jerry Miller and his crew from Kent Conservation District, Samantha Bloom and her friends from MSU Extension 4-H, Kim Kropf from Michigan Apple Committee, Alexandria Johnston from Kent Youth Agricultural Association, and teachers and students from Caledonia FFA, KCTC FFA, and Lowell FFA. Thank you to our District 4 representative on the MFB Board of Directors, Jeff Sandborn; to Justin Tomei and Jack Smith from the MFB Legislative office; and to MACMA's Nick Nadai. There was the din of many voices talking both before and after the official question-and-answer period, and all of you added to the depth of those conversations.