Congressman Langworthy Votes to Pass the Farm Bill to the House Floor

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, Congressman Nick Langworthy (NY-23) voted to pass the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, known as the Farm Bill, during the House Committee on Agriculture’s markup of the legislation — the final package was voted out of committee in a bipartisan vote. Six bills sponsored by Congressman Langworthy were included in the Farm Bill, reflecting his commitment to addressing the unique needs of Western New York and the Southern Tier.

The markup is the last step in the committee process, allowing members to add amendments before the legislation is voted to the House floor — including an amendment to add Congressman Langworthy’s GRAPE Act that would provide comprehensive crop insurance for grape growers who suffer losses due to freeze events, which passed unanimously.

“The House Agriculture Committee developed a strong 2024 Farm Bill, and I’m proud to have fought for Western New York and the Southern Tier to have a seat at the table,” said Congressman Langworthy. “From hosting a listening session to traveling across our district to visit farms and our rural communities, this Farm Bill has been stamped with feedback from New York’s 23rd District and legislative priorities that address the unique needs of our region. It not only includes vital support for dairy farmers, grape growers, and maple producers, but it also expands skilled job training and increases access to rural health care. The 2024 Farm Bill is a comprehensive and forward-thinking package that reflects our commitment to agriculture and rural development, and I look forward to supporting it on the House floor.” 

The Farm Bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation passed roughly every five years that sets national agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy. It includes provisions for crop protections, rural development, conservation, nutrition assistance programs like SNAP, and more. The bill aims to support farmers, ensure food security, promote sustainable agriculture, and allow our nation to compete on the world stage.

As a member of the committee, Congressman Langworthy worked to include pieces of legislation he had previously introduced to benefit farmers and rural communities in Western New York and the Southern Tier. In addition to supporting our critical dairy farms and burgeoning maple syrup industry, he has also made workforce development and rural healthcare top priorities, and this Farm Bill has been an important vehicle for advancing those initiatives.

Pieces of legislation sponsored by Congressman Langworthy included in the 2024 Farm Bill are:

• H.R. 1756, the Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act, to authorize mandatory reporting of cost and yield information from dairy processors. This will add transparency to dairy pricing, reducing the risk of unfair fluctuations and ensuring that dairy farmers aren’t cheated out of their hard-earned income. It also includes a provision that will revert the dairy pricing method to a previous system, changed by the 2018 Farm Bill, to benefit dairy farmers.

• H.R. 7015, the Creating Access to Rural Employment and Education for Resilience and Success (CAREERS) Act, to allocate funds within the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) Grant Program to support career pathway programs or industry or sector partnerships in key industry sectors, including public utilities, conservation, health care, child care, manufacturing, agribusiness, and others. This provision aims to address the skills gap and workforce shortage in rural communities.

• H.R. 7667, the Making Agricultural Products Locally Essential (MAPLE) Act, to add maple syrup to the list of eligible products under the Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP), which would both provide a new market for maple syrup and would allow seniors increased access to nutritious, locally sourced maple syrup products.

• H.R. 5308, the Rural Telehealth and Education Enhancement Act, to reauthorize the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program (DLT) at the USDA, which allocates grants to assist rural communities in acquiring the essential technology and training needed to establish connections between educational and medical experts, students, teachers, and patients residing in rural areas. New York’s 23^rd District has benefitted from this program, previously utilizing funds to combat the opioid crisis and train first responders.

• H.R. 3512, the Supporting All Producers (SAP) Act, requires the USDA to consult with maple syrup producers on where to focus annual research and education priorities under the Acer Access and Development Program. This program is a competitive grant program for research and education related to maple syrup production and the industry as a whole.

• H.R. 8359, the Grape Research and Protection Expansion (GRAPE) Act, to provide comprehensive crop insurance for grape growers who suffer losses due to freeze events, addressing a significant gap in current agricultural support policies. This legislation follows the unexpected hard frost that the Lake Erie grape belt suffered in April, causing substantial damage that threatened the entire crop and resulted in major financial losses for local producers.