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Nebraska’s Bacon shares ’23 farm bill priorities

As Congress waits for committee assignments to be finalized, a Nebraska Congressman is outlining his priorities for the next farm bill.

Republican Don Bacon tells Brownfield crop insurance is the top issue. “I hear from our farmers frequently that crop insurance is the most important thing they need.  We should study it to see how we could tweak it better to make it current with what the current needs are.”

He says additional research funding is needed to develop a vaccine for African Swine Fever. “If we have an outbreak, it could devastate our pork industry. We need to get to the bottom of this with research and prevention as fast as we can.”

Bacon said he led an effort recently to stand up a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine bank and hopes to develop something similar with ASF.

Bacon said expanding biofuels is critical for diversifying markets for farmers. “Ensuring we have a strong ethanol requirement is very important for corn and soybeans, frankly, for biofuels.”

And, he says, he would like to have additional incentives to grow trade markets. “For Nebraska, we are an export state.  We need more doors open internationally.”

Bacon has requested to be seated on the House Ag Committee, which he says, could happen in the next few weeks.