WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today announced witnesses for the Committee’s first hearing of the 114th Congress on the “Agricultural Act of 2014 Implementation after One Year and Farm Credit Administration Nominations.”
The hearing will feature testimony from a variety of agricultural producers as well as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The Committee will also review two nominees slated to serve on the Farm Credit Administration Board.
“It’s been one year since passage of the Farm Bill, and this Committee has a responsibility to ensure Farm Bill programs are working as efficiently as Congress intended. America’s farmers and ranchers are now working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sign up for Farm Bill programs, and we’ve heard from farm country that there have been challenges in the process,” Roberts said. “Recognizing these concerns, I am putting farmers and ranchers first as we begin our work on the Committee. We will hear their thoughts on the first panel, and then Secretary Vilsack will offer testimony to give us an opportunity to work together on these concerns starting right then and there.
“As I have said before, I will work to see that the federal government is an ally, not an adversary, to America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers.”
What: The Agricultural Act of 2014 implementation after one year and Farm Credit Administration nominations
Who: Panel I:
Mr. Rich Felts, Wheat, Corn, Soybean, and Livestock Producer, Liberty, Kan.
Mr. Ronnie Lee, Cotton, Peanut, Wheat, Corn, Soybean, Pecan, and Cattle Producer,
Bronwood, Ga.
Mr. Clay Mitchell, Corn and Soybean Producer, Buckingham, Iowa
Mr. Michael DeRuiter, Cherry, Apple, and Peach Producer, Hart, Mich.
Panel II:
Hon. Tom Vilsack, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Panel III: Nominations
Jeffery S. Hall, of Kentucky, to be a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board, Farm
Credit Administration
Dallas P. Tonsager, of South Dakota, to be a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board,
Farm Credit Administration
Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Place: 328A Russell Senate Office Building
**Please note: Space will be limited in the hearing room. The hearing will be webcast live on www.ag.senate.gov.
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