Agriculture Committee Approves Farm Bill With North Carolina Priorities Included

WASHINGTON, DC – With the support of Congressman David Rouzer (NC-07), the House Committee on Agriculture approved H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill.

“The Farm, Food, and National Security Act will ensure our farm families can continue to produce the safest, most abundant food and fiber supply in the world,” said Congressman Rouzer. “North Carolina will especially benefit from the Farm Bill because of the steps taken to strengthen the competitiveness of specialty crops, improve access to safe drinking water in rural communities, and the investments made to bolster our farm safety net. Beyond the farmgate, this legislation strengthens rural economies across the country, incentivizes work, and maintains vital nutrition assistance for those who truly need it while enhancing work opportunities so they aren’t trapped on welfare.”

Agriculture has always been the dominant industry in North Carolina and currently contributes more than $111 billion to our state’s economy, far outpacing any other industry in economic output. As a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, Congressman Rouzer secured important provisions for Southeastern North Carolina and communities across the country.

Highlights for North Carolina in the 2024 Farm Bill include:

• Increases Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills: Increases the payment rate from 3 cents to 5 cents under Economic Adjustment Assistance to account for inflation and support the domestic textile industry as they continue to compete against foreign manufacturers.
  
• Provides Clarity for National Markets: Protects North Carolina pork producers from a patchwork of state-by-state regulations and reinforces the federal government’s role in protecting interstate commerce.
  
• Holds USDA and States Accountable: Protects the taxpayers’ dollar through Congressman Rouzer’s legislation, H.R. 6657, by implementing accountability measures to protect the integrity of SNAP and better serve American families who truly need assistance.
  
• Addresses PFAS Contamination: Includes critical pieces of Congressman Rouzer’s Healthy H2O Act to ensure rural homeowners can access water quality testing and treatment for PFAS contamination.
  
• Eliminates the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Limitation: Ensures all producers can access critical disaster and conservation programs by removing AGI limits and adjusting the payment limits on certain pass-through entities.
  
• Protects the Livestock and Poultry Industry: Invests further funding into the animal health three-legged stool, an animal disease prevention program Congressman Rouzer championed in the 2018 Farm Bill.
  
• Supports the Specialty Crop Industry: Ensures Congress and USDA can address the challenges our specialty crop producers face through the Specialty Crop Foreign Competitiveness Report. Also ensures specialty crop producers continue to build insurance coverage through RMA’s Specialty Crop Advisory Committee and makes hurricane protection a legitimate coverage option.
  
• Strengthens Agriculture Research: Invests in our nation’s agriculture research facilities, like NC State, to pull them into the 21st century as they develop competitive agriculture research programs.