The newly-appointed board of directors for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) unanimously passed a resolution expressing support for the expeditious passage of a comprehensive, bi-partisan Farm Bill during its Annual Meeting held last week at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis.
The current Farm Bill, which was extended last year as a one-year continuation of the 2018 Farm Bill, is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30.
“America’s farmers and ranchers provide the food, fiber, fuel and shelter that we all depend on every single day but they are subject to numerous and complex challenges that are out of their control,” said newly-elected NASDA President Wes Ward, who is also Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. “Agriculture is national security and it is critical that Congress pass a new Farm Bill in 2024.”
The resolution highlights the recent extreme weather events, elevated input and interest costs and supply chain disruptions farmers and ranchers continue to battle daily. It also focuses on the need to strengthen nutrition security across the U.S., and the Farm Bill’s role in funding critical food and nutritional assistance programs and bolstering local and regional food systems for improved supply chain resilience.
Agricultural producers, the rural economy and communities of every size rely upon a forward-looking, and fully funded Farm Bill that provides a safety net for our farmers and ranchers while also protecting critical food and nutritional assistance for those who need it most. NASDA continues to ask Congress to pass a Farm Bill in 2024.
NASDA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association that represents the commissioners, secretaries, and directors of the state departments of agriculture in all fifty states and four U.S. territories. NASDA’s CEO is Ted McKinney, a native of Tipton County, Indiana, and former Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA). Among NASDA’s members is Don Lamb, current Director of ISDA.
For more information, visit Hoosier Ag Today’s article.
– Photo courtesy of NASDA