STONEVILLE, MS – On Wednesday, USA Rice and the National Cotton Council of America joined the Delta Council Officers and Board of Directors meeting virtually to deliver an update on the development of the next Farm Bill.
Jamison Cruce, USA Rice vice president of government affairs, and Robbie Minnich, the National Cotton Council vice president of Washington operations, shared insights on the progress and Congress’ work toward passing a new Farm Bill.
Cruce and Minnich gave an overview of each organization’s perspective on the recent House Agriculture Committee-passed
Farm, Food, and National Security Act (
see USA Rice Daily, May 24, 2024) as well as Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) negotiating framework. They also outlined how their respective industry’s priorities, as well as those of production agriculture and rural America, were addressed in the House Farm Bill.
Additionally, Cruce and Minnich fielded questions on specific provisions and potential timing of future Farm Bill development, and ultimately, enactment.
“I’d like to thank the Delta Council Board of Directors for inviting us to participate in their board meeting to share our Farm Bill update,” said Cruce. “Delta Council is a tremendous organization doing great work, and we look forward to continuing our efforts with them, the National Cotton Council, and other industry partners towards the passage of a highly effective, bipartisan, and bicameral Farm Bill this year.”
“Delta Council and so many other groups in the Mid-South, Southeast, and Southwest depend on the advocacy of USA Rice and the National Cotton Council, regardless of whether some of us grow those crops,” said Bubba Simmons of Tribbett, president of Delta Council who grows soybeans and corn in Washington County, Mississippi. “For those of us in production agriculture, they are at the tip of the spear and absolutely indispensable in representing our interests.”