Agriculture & Rural Prosperity
From cotton to catfish and poultry to peanuts, Alabama is home to diverse farming and production industries. As Alabama’s first elected senator to serve on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee in more than 20 years, our farmers, foresters, and producers can count on me to be a strong voice for them in Washington.
My goal is to get big government out of the way so the people who earn a living off the land can do what they do best: feed, fuel, and clothe America. This means cutting burdensome regulations so family farms and rural communities can continue to thrive.
As we work toward another Farm Bill, I want to ensure that our legislation puts farmers first. My office is focusing on ways to support Alabama’s top commodities, drive forward key initiatives like rural development and broadband, and promote forestry programs to benefit Alabama’s rural communities both today and in the future.
Making a Difference
I’m proud to serve on three Senate AG subcommittees that position me well to advocate for Alabama’s agricultural interests:
- This Congress, I was named the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy, which oversees the many programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development mission area, including facilities, utilities, loans, and renewable energy.
- I am proud to serve on theSubcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade, which focuses on production agriculture, including commodity programs, crop insurance, commodity exchanges, agriculture trade, international food assistance, and credit.
- I also serve on the Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, which oversees programs regarding food and nutrition assistance, school meals, organic production, and research.
Putting "Farms" Back in the Farm Bill
Our committee has an important task before us in crafting and passing a Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is a large legislative package passed every five years to fund our food and agriculture programs. In writing this bill, my focus is on four things: ensuring funds for rural development projects reach their destination, expanding access to broadband for rural areas, protecting our farm safety net and crop insurance, and addressing rising input costs that are cutting into farmers’ bottom lines.
- I led my first hearing as Ranking Member of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, titled “Rural Broadband: Connecting our Communities to the Digital Economy,” to discuss successful options for expanding broadband access in rural communities in the next Farm Bill.
- To ensure Alabama’s agricultural industry has a seat at the table during Farm Bill negotiations, my office embarked on a multi-day listening tour with members of Alabama’s agriculture community, which included visiting local farmers, attending expos and hosting panels with leaders in Alabama’s agriculture community, and touring other integral agriculture facilities and farms.
- I’m proud to support the Senate Republican framework, which helps farmers and producers in Alabama and across the nation by truly putting more farm in the Farm Bill. This strong framework builds upon the efforts of the House Agriculture Committee, which passed its bipartisan Farm Bill with a 33-21 vote, and has a starkly different approach to actually help producers versus Senate Democrats’ framework, which is a liberal wish list.
Boosting Alabama's Pecan Farmers
Through my listening sessions across the state, I heard farmers emphasize the need to expand the USDA’s Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) to include pecans and other tree nuts grown in Alabama. So, I introduced the Farmers’ Market Expansion Act to do just this.
- The SFMNP provides fresh, nutritious, locally-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, and honey to eligible low-income seniors. These seniors must be 60 years of age or older and have a household income of no more than 185% of the federal poverty level.
- Annual SFMNP program benefits vary per state between $20 – $50 per year, with over 54,000 eligible seniors in Alabama.
- Not only would my legislation give low-income seniors more healthy food options, but it would increase market opportunities for Alabama’s more than 800 pecan farmers.
Protecting Against Feral Swine
There are approximately six million feral hogs across the United States, which cause more than $1.5 billion in damages each year. I introduced the Feral Swine Eradication Act to extend and make permanent a pilot program to safeguard public health, agriculture, and local ecosystems against the threat of feral swine.
- The Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) was established in the 2018 Farm Bill to respond to rampant feral swine outbreaks and was implemented by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS).
- My bill would protect farmers and farmland by allowing USDA to build upon this critical program.
Helping Alabama Fishermen
Red snapper fishing plays a critical role in the economies of Gulf states, like Alabama. I’m fighting to protect our fishermen from bureaucratic red tape and bad actors.
- Throughout red snapper season, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council estimates quotas and annual catch targets by using state data. I joined my colleagues in expressing concern to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo when the Department proposed converting all state fisheries data into a single federal system, which would have ultimately resulted in a less accurate assessment of red snapper limits.
- This matters because the Commerce Department determines fishing limits based on reporting they get from the states. It is incredibly important that the data is accurate and targeted so that our fishermen can continue to grow their businesses, fuel our economy, and feed our families.
- Thanks in part to our efforts, the Commerce Department announced in May 2024 that it would raise Alabama’s catch limit by 73,000 pounds for recreational fishing.
- Unfortunately, our domestic Red Snapper industry is also being undermined by Mexican fishermen who are illegally catching these fish in the Gulf, smuggling them into Mexico, and then reselling the same fish back to Americans.
- I introduced the Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act to develop a standard methodology for identifying the country of origin of red snapper imported into the United States and to stop the cartels from bankrupting our fishermen.
Protecting American Farmland From Foreign Adversaries
Food security is national security, and those in our agriculture industry ensure the shelves in our grocery stores remain stocked. The American agriculture industry has changed drastically due to rising foreign investments and consolidation in our domestic food supply. We must ensure America’s food security isn’t uprooted by foreign investments. That’s why I’m pushing for increased transparency on foreign investments in our agriculture chains.
- Since being elected, I have introduced the Foreign Adversary Risk Management (FARM) Act in both the 117th and 118th Congress to bring more transparency and oversight to foreign businesses involved with our domestic agriculture industry. I will continue this fight to preserve our food security and protect our farmers from foreign control.
- The FARM Act would add the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), giving the agriculture community greater say in the vetting process for foreign investments.
- This legislation would also recognize agricultural supply chains as critical infrastructure and critical technologies and add language to protect the U.S. agriculture industry from foreign control through transactions, mergers, acquisitions, or agreements.
- Parts of the legislation have received bipartisan support, including from AG Secretary Tom Vilsack and Mike Espy, former AG Secretary under the Clinton administration.
- Alabama has the third-most foreign-owned land in the United States, and we don’t want these investments to put our agricultural supply chains at risk. I joined my colleagues in introducing the AFIDA Improvements Act of 2024 to collect more information about foreign ownership of American farmland, following a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that revealed the USDA is ill-equipped to fully combat nefarious foreign ownership of American agricultural land by foreign adversaries.
- I also helped introduce the bipartisan Protecting America’s Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act to prohibit the sale of U.S. agricultural land to any individual or entity tied to the governments of Iran, North Korea, China, or Russia.
- Additionally, I helped introduce the Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act to prohibit members of the Chinese Communist Party from purchasing land in the Unites States following China’s surge of American farmland purchases in the last decade.
- My legislation would also set minimum penalties for foreign purchases that fail to comply with federal reporting requirements.
Helping Family Farms Thrive
Family farms are the backbone of our nation’s agriculture industry, and we need them now more than ever. We want to ensure that family farms can continue for generations to come. That’s why I’m tirelessly advocating for policies that help ease the burden of rising input costs and keep our family farms in business.
- I proudly helped introduce legislation to permanently abolish the federal Estate Tax, otherwise known as the “Death Tax,” that poses a risk to so many of our family farms that are passed down from one generation to the next. I penned an op-ed about my efforts in Yellowhammer News.
- Over the last two years, net farm income has dropped $70 billion—the most rapid decline in U.S. history. It’s important that we are prioritizing additional market opportunities for our producers. That’s why I joined my colleagues in urging S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary Tom Vilsack to increase U.S. agricultural exports and improve the competitiveness of our products abroad.
- I joined my colleagues in cautioning federal financial regulators on the harmful impact the proposed Basel III Endgame capital proposal would have on the agriculture and energy industries. I also wrote about this in an op-ed in The American Banker.
- In committee hearings, I have pressed Secretary Vilsack about family farmers’ concerns with President Biden’s proposed tax hikes and how higher taxes will seriously impact their operations.
Maximizing Daylight For Families and Farmers
Listening to the concerns of rural America is important to me. That is why last Congress, I proudly cosponsored the Sunshine Protection Act to permanently adopt Daylight Saving Time (DST), which would give Americans longer days and more daylight for our farmers to work in the fields. I look forward to continuing the push to make DST permanent.
- The Sunshine Protection Act would permanently adopt DST, doing away with the outdated practice of adjusting clocks twice a year.
- Alabama and 17 other state legislatures have passed similar legislation to permanently adopt DST if enacted at the federal level.
- This bill passed the U.S. Senate by Unanimous Consent on March 15, 2022.
- Read more on The Sunshine Protection Act here.
- Watch my remarks about the importance of permanently adopting DST here.
