Congresswoman Ashley Hinson:
A U.S. Representative from Iowa says the House-passed ag and rural development funding bill secured some critical investments for farmers.
Republican Ashley Hinson says the legislation included a $1.16 billion investment in the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. She tells Brownfield the funding comes at a critical time when New World screwworm detections have started to pop up in the southern U.S.
“We’re supporting animal disease research,” she said Monday. “There is a significant amount of resource included in that bill because you look at how quickly (Ag Secretary) Brooke (Rollins) has needed to respond to the detection and prevent the spread of New World screwworm. We definitely don’t want that making its way through Iowa.”
The full U.S. House passed the FY27 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act by a 213-210 vote on Thursday, June 4th.
Hinson says the bill increased funding for the Agricultural Research Service.
“When I think about making sure our producers can stay on the cutting edge of technology, I think that’s some place we should absolutely be investing our resources. That’s another place we were able to secure some additional support in the bill.”
She says the package also invests $50 million in Farm Service Agency technology modernization – including the One Farmer, One File Initiative – to help improve program delivery for farmers.
The funding bill now awaits further action in the U.S. Senate.
