BROWN SPEAKS TO FARMERS AT ANNUAL OHIO FARM BUREAU FEDERATION BREAKFAST

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) delivered remarks at the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation's Legislative Conference breakfast in Washington, D.C., and heard from farmers what their priorities are for the 2023 Farm Bill. Brown discussed a number of topics, including provisions secured in the 2018 Farm Bill, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and how the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will benefit Ohio agriculture, rural development conservation, and urban forestry.

"More and more people are finally beginning to see what we have known for a long time: it's better for the long-term health of our economy and our communities when we produce more in America," said Brown. "Whether it's semiconductors from Asia or beef from Brazil, there's a cost to long supply chains -- and there's a benefit to Ohioans when we bring them home."

Brown recently met with local farmers, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and agriculture stakeholders in Chesterland, Grove City and Wooster to learn what priorities Ohio farmers have for the 2023 Farm Bill. Brown, the first Ohioan to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 50 years, will help write the upcoming Farm Bill.

Brown has long been a leader for Ohio's rural communities. Before the passage of the Farm Bill in 2008, 2013, and 2018, Brown held roundtables around Ohio to hear from farmers and rural communities about what they wanted to see in the bill, and successfully secured a number of Ohio-specific provisions that were important to the state's farmers.

Brown's remarks at the annual breakfast, as prepared for delivery, follow:

It's great to be back in person -- the last time we spoke in-person was Wednesday, March 11, 2020. I remember greeting folks with an elbow tap, but we still didn't fully appreciate that within a few days, the world was about to change.

It's been a long two and a half years. And through it all, you have been hard at work to produce the food, fuel and fiber that is at the foundation of Ohio's and our country's economy.

You all know that 1-in-7 in Ohioans depend on agriculture for their jobs.

It's why I joined the Agriculture Committee making me the first Ohio Senator on the Committee in fifty years.

I joined so that I can fight for you, your families, and your communities.

As you all know one of the most important things the Senate Agriculture Committee does about every 5 years or so is write a new farm bill.

And we are beginning to gear up for the next one -- the 2023 Farm Bill.

This will be my fourth Farm Bill in the Senate.

It's something we always do in a bipartisan way -- the 2018 Farm Bill passed by a final vote of 87-13.

That's one of the reasons I worked to get on the Senate Ag Committee because it has a reputation -- along with the Veterans Committee, which I am also proud to serve on -- for being one of the most bipartisan committees in the Senate.

I look forward to working with Senator Stabenow and Boozman and all the members of the committee to continue that bipartisan tradition.

Before we talk about the priorities for the next Farm Bill and what I'll be fighting for on behalf of Ohio agriculture, I wanted to walk through where we've been.

The best ideas don't come from Washington, they come from Ohioans.

They come from farmers themselves.

It's why leading up to every Farm Bill, we've held roundtables around the state.

We've done them at some of your farms, and we've already started them again this year.

At the end of last month, I was at President Bill Patterson's farm -- Patterson Fruit Farm in Chesterland. I learned a lot and I also left with some delicious apples that Connie and I -- with the help of our grandkids -- turned into apple sauce

We also did one in Wooster. And my staff and I will be doing more.

Many of the ideas I have successfully fought for in previous farm bill came directly from you and these roundtables.

In the 2018 Farm Bill, we preserved and strengthened the safety net that farmers rely on to help them mitigate risk and prevent bankruptcies.

We defended crop insurance and improved the Average Risk Coverage (ARC) program that I helped develop with the Republican Majority Whip, John Thune of South Dakota.

As many of you remember, Senator Thune and I led the way in creating the ARC program in what became the 2014 Farm Bill. We based it on what I heard from farmers across Ohio.

In 2018, we improved conservation programs.

We got an amendment in the bill to increase the cost-share for EQIP.

Instead of the normal 75 percent cost share, the best practices should be eligible for up to 90 percent cost share. So if you're using the practices that best protect water quality or habitats, the government will pick up 90 percent of the tab.

In 2018 we also created a new CRP program -- called CLEAR , or the Clean Lakes Estuaries and Rivers Program -- that aimed to enroll 5 million acres of farmland that directly protect water quality, and allow CRP to better work in Ohio.

And it's not just the last Farm Bill we'll be working to build on next year -- it's all the work we've done this year to build rural infrastructure and improve our supply chains.

Technology and innovation in agriculture continues to advance -- auto steer tractors that rely on GPS, in-field monitoring, electric tractors, vehicles.

But much of the new technology is dependent on reliable broadband -- not only in the field, but also in your homes, as you track the weather and do your books.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes big broadband investments. We want to work with you -- and with mayors and county commissioners and township trustees -- to make sure that Ohio gets our fair share, or more, of that investment.

It's the same thing with bridges. Ohio has more than 3,200 bridges that need repair. [Story -- what it means for farmers when a small county bridge is washed out]

We also passed the Inflation Reduction Act, with $40 billion in agriculture, forestry, and rural development investments.

And we included new incentives that will expand markets for homegrown American biofuels.

We also included a new investment tax credit to help offset the upfront costs associated with building biodigester -- something Sen Thune and I fought for.

Looking at the next Farm Bill, we know that climate is going to be a factor -- because it's a factor for your farms already.

You all see the changes in growing seasons. No one knows the weather better than Ohio farmers.

Your voices need to be in the room.

We are going to improve on what we accomplished in the last farm bill and fight to ensure the $18 billion in conservation funding including in the Inflation Reduction Act works for Ohio farmers.

I also know problems with inflation have been squeezing farmers and rural communities, from fertilizer to fuel prices.

This reality will be at the forefront of the Farm Bill effort. It's why I will fight to ensure the 2023 Farm Bill preserves and strengthens Title 1 programs and crop insurance.

We also know one of the big causes of inflation has been global supply chains that are too long and too fragile.

We need investments in domestic production of fertilizer, and new research on how to do more with less.

You shouldn't have to depend on fertilizer inputs or natural gas inputs from hostile foreign nations.

And it's about domestic markets too.

I want to make it easier for farmers to feed their communities and for consumers to buy local Ohio food and farm products. That keeps money where it belongs: here in our communities.

We made progress on that in 2018, with the Local FARMS Act. And we're going to build on that again.

Whether it's industrial production or ag production, more and more people are finally beginning to see what we have known for a long time:

That it's better for the long-term health of our economy and our communities when we produce more in America.

Whether it's semiconductors from Asia or beef from Brazil, there's a cost to those supply chains -- and there's a benefit to Ohioans when we bring them home.

Now I would like to turn things over to all of you.

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