Agriculture & Rural Development
Farmers, ranchers, and producers are the backbone of America's more than $1 trillion dollar agriculture industry. Georgia's agriculture industry generates $ billion annually. As a leader of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, the Co-Chair of the bipartisan Congressional Chicken Caucus, and Co-Chair of the Congressional Peanut Caucus, Congressman Bishop is one of agriculture's most steadfast supporters in Congress, directing crucial funds to federal programs that build our rural communities, support agriculture, and ensure that America has the safest, most abundant, and affordable food, fiber, and medicine.
Congressman Bishop is also a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, where he helps oversee and craft federal agriculture policy and programs through the Farm Bill. He works diligently to protect farmers and help them recover from natural disasters, fights against overbearing regulatory burdens, strengthen America’s nutrition programs, improve the H2-A program for non-immigrant agricultural workers, advance education and research that makes agriculture more efficient and resilient, promote fair trade and treatment of American agriculture goods in international markets.
More on Agriculture & Rural Development
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (GA-02), Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, has been selected to receive the Friend of Farm Bureau Award for his dedication to serving America’s farmers and ranchers. Congressman Bishop was nominated by the Georgia State Farm Bureau and approved by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Board of Directors.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reps. Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) led 98 other Members in a letter to U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services León Rodriguez regarding the administrative breakdown in the timely processing of H-2A agricultural worker program applications and visa petitions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. ─ Today, Congressman Sanford Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) creation of the new Cotton Ginning Cost Share Program in order to expand and maintain the domestic marketing of cotton. Through the new program, cotton producers will be able to reduce their costs for the 2015 crop by an estimated $300 million nationwide.
ALBANY, GA – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement of a Federal Marketing Order (FMO) for pecans grown in 15 states, a self-help program funded by the pecan industry and administered by a new 17-member American Pecan Council for the benefit of the industry.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Member of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after the full Appropriations Committee approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. The government spending bill now goes to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for its consideration.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, released the following statement after the full Appropriations Committee passed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 government spending bill. The government spending bill now goes to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for its consideration.
ALBANY, GA – Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) successfully included language in the Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Bill protecting pecan processors and one of Georgia’s largest industries. If signed into law, the bill would require the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to include pecans in its preliminary report, providing pecan processors with necessary figure estimates related to the overall size of the crop produced and cost of product.
MONTEZUMA, GA – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (GA-02), co-chair of the Congressional Working Forests Caucus, welcomed the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) recent action to expand use of forest products in their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program by including recognition of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the American Tree Farm System (AFTS), effectively opening a pathway for more U.S. forest products to be used in the LEED rating system.
FORT VALLEY, GA— Today, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Vilsack announced $18 million in grants will be available to strengthen research and teaching at historically black land-grant universities. The grants are available through the 1890 Institution Research, Extension, and Teaching Capacity Building Grants program administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee of Agriculture, released the following statement regarding his disappointment on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack’s refusal to label cottonseed as “other oilseeds” within the Farm Bill, an action which may negatively affect the cotton industry: