By Trish Svoboda

Yesterday, Representative Tracey Mann from Kansas’s 1st congressional district urged Congress to approve a comprehensive farm bill with a five-year duration. On the House Floor for the 25th time, Rep. Mann emphasized the need for a farm bill that strikes a balance between providing stability for farmers and being adaptable to market fluctuations.

“In the almost five and a half years since the last farm bill was signed into law, the world has drastically changed,” said Rep. Mann. “Since 2018, we have experienced a global pandemic, watched in horror as a war unfolded between Russia and Ukraine, and now Israel and Hamas, and witnessed President Biden’s failed trade agenda cause market fluctuation that no one could have imagined. The livelihoods of American producers and consumers are on the line right now, and that means our food security and national security are on the line too. American farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers need certainty like never before – and Congress must deliver for them with a five-year farm bill.”

Serving on the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Mann has persistently championed the cause of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers in Kansas throughout the process of reauthorizing the farm bill. Here are some of the key areas that Rep. Mann is focusing on:

· Protecting and strengthening crop insurance

· Incentivizing agricultural trade programs that help America remain competitive and secure

· Conducting rigorous oversight and rolling back overly restrictive regulations

In May 2023, Rep. Mann organized a listening session on the Farm Bill in Gypsum, KS. This session, which was also attended by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (PA-15), was an opportunity for Kansas farmers, ranchers, agricultural producers, and agricultural leaders to express their expectations and aspirations for the forthcoming farm bill.

The Big First, with its 60,000 farms and ranches, holds the distinction of being the country’s third-largest district in terms of agricultural production