02.28.25

Hoeven: Flexibility Must be Maintained in Farm Bill to Address Emergencies in Farm Country

Senator Highlights Efforts to Quickly Deliver Disaster Assistance, CCC Role in Addressing Avian Influenza Outbreak

WASHINGTON – At a hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee this week, Senator John Hoeven outlined the importance of maintaining flexibility at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for addressing emergent needs in farm country, like avian flu. To this end, the senator highlighted the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) as an important priority for the new farm bill, as it provides a flexible source of emergency funding to help farmers and ranchers weather a variety of challenges. Hoeven further pointed to examples of how Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee disaster assistance and provision of CCC resources are currently being utilized to the benefit of American agriculture producers, including:

  • The $33.5 billion in disaster assistance that he worked to secure for producers in the year-end funding legislation.
    • Hoeven has been working with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to ensure USDA implements and quickly delivers the assistance to producers.
    • The senator discussed with the hearing witnesses how the disaster assistance serves as a bridge to help farmers and ranchers recover while he and his colleagues work to secure key priorities in the new farm bill.
    • Hoeven stressed how improved crop insurance affordability, updated reference prices and stronger livestock disaster programs will help mitigate the need for future ad hoc disaster assistance.
  • Addressing the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak impacting the poultry industry.
    • This week, Secretary Rollins announced a $1 billion, 5-point plan to improve biosecurity, help affected producers recover and bring down prices for consumers.
    • Hoeven is working with Rollins to implement the plan and discussed with the hearing witnesses on how to address the current outbreak and prevent future losses.
    • The details of Secretary Rollins’ plan can be found here.

“The CCC is an incredibly important tool that provides flexibility to Congress and the administration to be responsive to needs in farm country and deal with issues promptly,” said Hoeven “Just this week, the CCC is being utilized to fund our response to avian influenza. I commend Secretary Rollins for acting quickly to respond to this outbreak, and I look forward to working with her and stakeholders to help producers recover, prevent future incidents and bring down egg prices for consumers. At the same time, this hearing offered another important opportunity to receive feedback directly from ag producers across the country, as they continue to face challenges and we work to pass an updated, strong farm bill that supports our farmers and ranchers and keeps the farm in the farm bill.”

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