Agriculture is the economic engine of our state and the backbone of our thriving main streets. It generates billions in economic activity and supports thousands of jobs. That’s why, last week, I officially launched my Feenstra Agriculture Tour to hear directly from our farmers, producers, and agricultural community about their suggestions to protect the productivity of Iowa agriculture and their priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization.
On my first stop, I toured the new Rosen Agriculture Center and greenhouse at Morningside University in Sioux City and met with students – who are the next generation of Iowa farmers – and faculty to discuss the importance of agriculture education to the future of farming in Iowa. I also visited Sorensen Equipment in Harlan to discuss tax policy matters – including my work to protect like-kind exchange, step-up in basis, and 179 depreciation – and met with small business owners and local officials in Manning. We touched on priorities vital to our rural main streets in the Farm Bill and the need to make E-15 available 365 days a year – permanently – to lower gas prices for our families.
Later in the week, I hosted a town hall with cattlemen in Moorhead to provide an update on my Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act to ensure our cattle producers get a fair price for their high-quality product. We also talked about our $1-trillion trade deficit, the costly impact of WOTUS in rural Iowa, and foreign animal disease preparedness and mitigation.
Serving on both the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, supporting our agricultural community is a top priority for me. While the Biden Administration ignores rural America, I am working every day to defend rural America from out-of-touch attacks from D.C. bureaucrats who want to regulate our livelihoods and way of life out of existence. From egregious overreach on WOTUS to its radical electric vehicle agenda, the Biden Administration is actively exacerbating the challenges our farmers and producers are facing daily. Frankly, it’s shameful that rural Iowa – the breadbasket to our country and the world – is not on President Biden’s list of priorities.
Meeting with Iowans and hearing from our producers will always be important to me. My Agriculture Tour reflects my commitment to represent the values, livelihoods, and priorities of Iowa agriculture and our rural communities. As the second largest agriculture-producing district in the nation, I will continue to be a strong voice for Iowa agriculture and our family farmers who feed and fuel our country and the world.
We are government together, and your thoughts and opinions matter to me. Please contact my office at Feenstra.House.Gov or by phone at 202-225-4426 if I can ever be of assistance. I am proud to represent our families, farmers, main street businesses, and rural communities in Congress.
