Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
The U.S. Senate passed its version of the farm bill June 21, and the legislation now heads to the House, which is expected to begin work on its version in July.
Commissioner Troxler tells Rhonda that he’s pleased the Senate version included additional funding for specialty crops grants and programs that fight invasive plant pests.
Senators offered more than 200 amendments to the bill, and 73 were debated. One amendment that wasn’t discussed was offered by Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina. Her amendment would have clarified that Clean Water Act permits are not required for pesticide applications in or near water. These uses of pesticides are already regulated under federal pesticide law.
Click below to listen to the Commissioner and Rhonda discuss what lies ahead for the farm bill and why the name “farm bill” is a bit of a misnomer.
[Audio:http://info.ncagr.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Troxler_6-26.mp3 |titles=Today’s Topic for June 26]
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