June 26, 2017
Southern producers urge lawmakers to help protect their crops at the latest Farm Bill listening session.
The three-hour hearing in Gainesville featured topics like farm labor and citrus greening disease. The outbreak, which has been caused by Asian Citrus Psyllid, has cost the citrus industry more than $4.5 billion over 10 seasons. Several producers stood up in support of federal funding to eradicate the disease.
The USDA has already spent about $400 million since 2009 on research to combat citrus greening.
Saturday’s hearing featured several other concerns as well and was the first of the Farm Bill cycle for the House agriculture committee.