House Ag Committee Announces Series Of Hearings To Focus On The Farm Economy

Apr 13, 2016

House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX) announced this week that the committee will begin a series of hearings titled Focus on the Farm Economy. Each of the six subcommittees will examine growing pressure in rural America from the perspective of the subcommittee. The first hearing in the series—Focus on the Farm Economy: Growing Farm Financial Pressure—will be this Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time in 1300 Longworth before the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee. Over the past three years, net farm income has fallen by 56 percent, the largest three-year percentage decline in net farm income since the Great Depression.

Upon announcing the hearing, Chairman Conaway released the following statement:

“As chairman of this committee, I am increasingly concerned about the direction the farm economy is headed. With no relief in sight, it is more important now than ever that we protect the Farm Bill and push back against attacks on the risk management tools that are so vital in protecting our farms and ranches.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.