Governor Doyle to Testify on Farm Bill

US - The Senate Ag Committee will hear from Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle on Tuesday, who will testify on why he feels it is critical to reauthorize the current Farm Bill this year. Doyle, who serves as chairman of the Midwest Governor's Association, is in Washington, D.C. today to explain to the panel how agriculture generates more than $50 billion for the state each year.

2 May 2007

1 minute read

North America

"The importance of farming goes beyond economics," Doyle says. "In Wisconsin, across the Midwest, and across the county, our future is rooted in a growing, innovative, and thriving agricultural industry. These conservation priorities will help us pass the baton to the next generation of farm families, who will preserve a way of life that is the backbone of our culture and values."

The governor says that through the Conservation Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and the Wetland Reserve Program, the Farm Bill is able to provide nearly $70 million in Wisconsin to protect and preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of crucial farm, forest, and wetland areas, and thousands of miles of streams that nourish crops across the state.

"The Farm Bill also provides a necessary safety net for Wisconsin dairy producers and rural communities suffering through milk price collapse," Doyle plans to tell the panel. "Through the Milk Income Loss Contract, or MILC program, Wisconsin producers received over $413 million under this program, the highest in the nation."

Source: Wisconsin Ag Connection