The Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday voted to approve a $139.4 billion legislationl. The bill is $2.6 billion less than the president requested and $452 million less than the fiscal 2013 level. “America’s farmers, ranchers, and producers are vital to our nation’s economy and are the most competitive in the world. They create jobs in our communities, produce food for our tables, export products around the globe,and diversify our nation’s energy supply”, said Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL).
Highlights of the bill are as follows:
Food Safety and Inspection Service: The bill provides $999 million for the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is $31 million below last year’s budget and provides mandatory inspection activities to ensure the safety and productivity of the country’s $832 billion meat and poultry industries. The funding provided will maintain more than 8,000 frontline inspection personnel for meat, poultry, and egg production at more than 6,200 facilities across the country.
Agricultural Research: The bill provides $2.5 billion for agriculture research programs, including $155 million for design and upgrade for the Southeast Research Poultry Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, as well as funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This funding will support research to help stop and mitigate devastating crop diseases and improve food safety and water quality. The bill also maintains investments in the nation’s land-grant colleges and universities.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: The legislation funds the agency at $803.5 million, which is approximately equal to last year’s funding, and is one of the agencies that spared budget cuts.
The Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development programs were both funded at last year’s levels of $200 million and 34.5 million respectively. The programs funded in this bill, including agriculture production, promotion, research, and marketing, will help build upon the estimated $139.5 billion in U.S. agriculture exports this year–the highest level on record.
Mark up of the fiscal yeaer 2014 Agriculture Appropriations bill will be held Wednesday, June 12 in the full Appropriations Committee.
