House Passes Farm Bill; Fong Votes Yes

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act(Farm Bill), a comprehensive package to support America's farmers and food production. Rep. Vince Fong (CA-20) voted yes.

The Farm Bill provides necessary program authorizations and funding levels for specialty crop programs, trade promotion, nutrition assistance, crop insurance, agriculture research and more. Significantly, the package provides targeted funding to support farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. Through strategic investments in key programs, this bill supports agricultural regions like California's Central Valley to ensure essential food production and farm support programs continue to support our agricultural economy.

Additionally, Rep. Fong's Save Our Sequoias Act was included as an amendment to the Farm Bill. This bipartisan legislation, which previously passed the House as a stand-alone bill, enhances interagency coordination between state, federal, and tribal partners, accelerates forest restoration efforts, and provides important, science-based resources to land managers to guard Giant Sequoias from further destruction.

"One in every four food items on American tables comes from California's Central Valley," said Congressman Fong. "We know what it means to feed America. This years' Farm Bill is a tremendous win for our community, and all of America's ranchers, farmers, and producers. From bolstering agricultural innovation, to investing in rural communities, to promoting science-backed forest management, this Farm Bill delivers support and certainty to the men and women who feed America."

Farm Bill Highlights

• More than doubles funding for agricultural trade promotion programs, reaching $533 million by FY28.
• Establishes a standing framework for providing support for specialty crop producers in times of economic peril.
• Provides farmers, ranchers, and growers with financial and technical assistance to address a variety of natural resource concerns such as soil health and erosion, water quality and quantity, and wildlife habitat.
• Creates a standing block grant authority for future disaster payments.
• Authorizes long-term dairy product processing cost surveys and extends other important dairy programs, including Dairy Forward Pricing, Dairy Farmer Indemnity, and the Dairy Promotion and Research Program.
• Establishes the Specialty Crop Emergency Assistance Framework, which would create a new compensation structure to expedite aid for specialty crop producers who require assistance following a natural disaster, economic crisis, or market disruption.
• Allocates $30 million annually to establish the Specialty Crop Mechanization and Automation Research and Extension Program within the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI).
• Reauthorizes the Citrus Disease Subcommittee of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board.
• Supports ranchers utilizing grazing allotments by directing the Secretary to create a strategy to expand the use of grazing for wildfire risk reduction.
• Expedites forest management practices by streamlining environmental review for wildfire resiliency projects and fuel breaks, more than tripling the size of projects included under expedited review from 3,000 acres to 10,000 acres.
• Limits barriers preventing efficient trimming and tree removal near transmission lines.