Buchholz Testifies for ASI
On March 21, ASI executive board member Bob Buchholz from Eldorado, Texas, participated in the first of the House Agriculture Livestock Subcommittee’s Farm Bill hearings. Chairman Mike Conaway (Texas) of the full House Agriculture Committee introduced Buchholz, highlighting their long-standing friendship and the importance of the sheep industry in the chairman’s district.
The hearing gave ASI an opportunity to lay out the sheep industry’s priorities for the Farm Bill, including risk management tools, funding for a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine bank and the much needed update to the marketing loan fund for wool. The current loan rate was established in 2002 and no longer reflects the market nor the rapidly increasing production costs of the industry.
Buchholz also stressed the importance of the livestock forage, indemnity and emergency conservation programs to livestock operators following disasters, such as the wildfires that recently occurred in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. This program has personal significance to Buchholz, as he was burned out in 2011 and continues to rebuild his operation.
This hearing was part of a larger effort to set the foundation for upcoming listening sessions and work by both chambers of Congress in crafting the next four-year Farm Bill.
The testimony presented by Buchholz is available under Testimony at Sheepusa.org/IssuesPrograms_AsiPositions.