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U.S. Congressman Max Miller forms Agriculture Advisory Council

U.S. Congressman Max Miller has announced his Agriculture Advisory Council of farmers, livestock producers, agribusinesses, and representatives of other ag-related enterprises in Ohio.

Miller, representing Ohio’s 7^th District, serves on the House Agriculture Committee and says the council will play a huge role in providing input on the 2023 Farm Bill.  

“I wanted to bring these individuals, our farmers within our community, to be part of an advisory council we put together and really to have their voices and concerns and implement it within legislation in the farm bill. The primary reason for that is they’re the subject matter experts in their field. While there are 435 Congressman and Congresswoman, not every single one of us is a subject matter expert on the committees we’ve been put on,” he says. “I look at this as a targeted opportunity to grow with our community, to listen to their concerns, and implement it into legislation because they’re the ones dealing with these issues every single day. And while food security does affect me up in northeast Ohio and everyone across the country, it isn’t something that’s talked about enough. I felt as if we built (the council) from the community, we could elevate it to the rest of the country and really make a difference when it comes to the farm bill and lots of other things that we have ahead of us.”  

Members of Congress who sit on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are responsible for drafting a farm bill.

He tells Brownfield, “I think it’s going to be incredibly important and one of the main reasons why I believe, and every Ohioan should believe, that it’s important is that Ohio ranks number nine in the nation for farm operations. One out of every seven jobs is within agriculture in the state of Ohio. The agriculture advisory council that we’ve put together will serve a critical role to advance our state’s and our region’s agricultural priorities as we work though the House Agriculture Committee to draft a farm bill in 2023. That is exactly why I believe that using our farmer’s voices who go through these struggles every single day is going to have an effect on this farm bill and make Ohio farmer’s lives better and every farmer across our country.”

Members of the Council include Former Congressman Bob Gibbs, a past member of the House Agriculture Committee; Dave Shoup, pork producer; Dave Dotterer, soybean producer; Jean Bratton, Ohio AgriBusiness Association; Pam Haley, livestock producer; Roger Maurer, corn farmer; Mark Dotterer, dairy farmer; Becca Winkler, dairy producer; Tom Demaline, nursery operator; Roger Baker, Ohio Farm Bureau – district-wide representative; Jimmy Croskey, Ohio Farm Bureau – Holmes County; Kurt Steiner, Ohio Farm Bureau – Wayne County; Adam Sharp, Ohio Farm Bureau; and Bill Simmons, Ohio Farm Bureau – Medina County.

“We’ve touched every aspect of our district when it comes to agriculture. With all of these individuals from all their associations and all of their jobs, we’ve put together, I believe, almost from every spectrum of what Ohio is proud to grow, an incredible advisory council that can steer us through and navigate the farm bill in such a way where they will see results that will come their way, especially when we talk about de-regulation,” he says.

Miller hosted his first meeting with the council this week at Ohio State University’s Wooster Campus. He says he plans to have monthly meetings moving forward.

Audio: Max Miller