Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
Rhonda caught up with Commissioner Troxler at the annual meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, which was taking place in Des Moines, Iowa. NASDA is composed of the agriculture commissioners, secretaries and directors from all 50 states and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They meet each year to hammer out recommendations on agricultural policy to send to Congress.
One of the major topics of discussion has been about the farm bill, which is still pending in Congress. Troxler tells Rhonda that he and his counterparts don’t want the agriculture part of the farm bill “left hanging” when Congress recesses this fall.
Another topic of discussion is reform of federal policy on agricultural guest workers. For the past year, a NASDA task force has been working on recommendations to take to Congress. The issue of guest workers is just as contentious among the 50 states as it is in Congress, Troxler says. But, he adds, the U.S. can’t afford to reach the point where crops are rotting in the fields, so Congress needs to act on reforming guest worker policy.
Click below to listen to the Commissioner and Rhonda discuss the NASDA meeting and find out what the Commissioner will bring with him back to North Carolina.
[Audio:http://info.ncagr.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Troxler_9-18.mp3|titles=Today’s Topic for Sept. 18]
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