[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 116 (Wednesday, July 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H6049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ORGANIC AGRICULTURE LISTENING SESSION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, on Monday, I 
hosted and chaired a Listening Session on Organic Agriculture at our 
State capitol in Harrisburg.
  Agriculture is a key economic driver in Pennsylvania and remains the 
Commonwealth's number one industry. One in seven jobs in Pennsylvania 
is connected to agriculture, a fact especially important in rural 
areas, generating some $7.4 billion in sales in 2017.
  Yet agriculture in Pennsylvania and around the country goes well 
beyond our local communities. Our farmers not only feed, clothe, and 
provide energy and fiber for all Americans, but also to many other 
nations around the world.
  Pennsylvania agriculture is diverse and encompasses a wide array of 
commodities and production methods. Monday's listening session was 
specifically focused on the organic agriculture sector in Pennsylvania.
  I was proudly joined by my colleagues, Congressman Scott Perry and 
Congressman  Tom Marino, as well as Pennsylvania's agriculture deputy 
secretary, Cheryl Cook. We heard from a number of expert panelists, 
including: Leslie Zuck of Pennsylvania Certified Organic; Dr. Kristy 
Borrelli of Penn State extension; Scott Sechler of Bell & Evans; Ken 
Rice, an organic livestock feed seller; Andrew Kline, an organic beef 
and milk producer; and Hannah Smith-Brubaker of the Pennsylvania 
Sustainable Agriculture Association, or PASA.
  We heard some tremendous testimony from the all-star panel, and I 
thank them for their insights. Over the past decade, organic 
agriculture has flourished around the Nation. From 2015 to 2016, the 
number of certified organic farms nationwide increased to more than 
14,000, and the number of certified acres increased by 15 percent, 
according to the USDA.
  Pennsylvania has been a leading State in organic agriculture with 
more than 800 farms across the Commonwealth. With some farms 
transitioning and others just starting out in agriculture, organic is 
being supported in a variety of ways. Through Pennsylvania Certified 
Organic, Penn State's extension activities, stakeholder organizations, 
and the State Department of Agriculture, many are working to help 
farmers who wish to transition to organic farming.
  There have also been a variety of supports put in place at the 
Federal level. Title X of the farm bill is the horticulture portion of 
the law which covers specialty crops, local and regional foods, and 
organic agriculture.

  The 2014 farm bill included $34 million annually to organic 
producers. This includes support for USDA's Organic Agriculture 
Research and Extension Initiative, the National Organic Certification 
Cost Share Program, the National Organic Program, and the Organic Data 
Initiative. The farm bill also authorizes the Beginning Farmers and 
Ranchers Program, the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program, 
the Market Access Program, the EQIP Organic Initiative, and our bedrock 
agricultural conservation programs.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, the House and Senate have been working 
diligently to write the next farm bill as the current law expires in 
September. Writing a new farm bill is timely, as rural areas have been 
hit hard by farm recession in recent years with the average farm income 
roughly half of what it was just 5 years ago.
  Since both the House and Senate have passed versions of the farm 
bill, I look forward to working out the differences in conference. This 
new law will certainly continue to support both traditional as well as 
organic agriculture on many fronts, and I look forward to getting the 
final bill across the finish line.


      Honoring World War I Heroes in Clinton County, Pennsylvania

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
memory of two World War I heroes from Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
  Private First Class Ira Cranmer Keller and Corporal Beale Marshall 
Darby are the hometown soldiers for which the county's Keller & Darby 
Memorial Park is named. Private First Class Keller was 24 years old and 
the first Clinton County soldier to be killed during World War I. 
Corporal Darby was only 18 years old and is the second hometown soldier 
to lose his life in the Great War.
  Their families donated land in North Bend to be used as a public 
park, forever commemorating their sacrifice for our freedom. This 
Sunday, there will be a formal memorial and rededication ceremony. A 
World War I Soldiers' Commemorative Monument will also be unveiled in 
the park.
  Mr. Speaker, a century later, we are celebrating the lives of these 
two soldiers and honoring the sacrifice that they made to this great 
Nation. To this day, the park honors these North Bend heroes, as their 
families intended. It is a place where we will always remember the 
sacrifices that come with our freedom, and we will never forget.

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