Meuser Part of Congressional Listening Session at Pa. Farm Show

Congressman Dan Meuser (R-9) recently participated in a bipartisan Congressional Listening Session hosted by Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson in Harrisburg during the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Thompson (R-15) is the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

The discussion will assist in the creation of the 2023 Farm Bill, an important piece of legislation for Pennsylvania’s agriculture and food-related sector. Agriculture is Pennsylvania’s number one industry and plays a critically important role in the 9^th District.

In addition to Meuser and Thompson, other members of Congress who participated on the on the panel included Dwight Evans (Pennsylvania), Austin Scott (Georgia), Mary Miller (Illinois), Doug LaMalfa (California), Derrick Van Orden (Wisconsin), Chellie Pingree (Maine) and Mark Alford (Missouri).

“The Farm Bill expires this year. We have to know what’s working, and what’s not,” Thompson emphasized at the beginning of the listening session.

“The farmers and producers in Pennsylvania are at the heart of providing food for families across the Commonwealth and the nation,” Meuser stated. “They persevered in the face of some remarkable challenges over the past few years and continue to innovate and move forward. We heard from farmers in the 9^th District and elsewhere about the opportunities and challenges confronting the industry, and their ideas to improve the Farm Bill that Congress will tackle this year.”

Among those offering remarks were Russell Redding, Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture; Richard Roush, dean of Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences; David Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association; Mike Deskiewicz, CEO of Bell & Evans; Joe Caldwell, president of Giorgi Mushrooms and Elizabeth Hinkel, a Schuylkill County farmer and president of the Pennsylvania Corn Growers Association.

“The listening session was tremendously productive, insightful, and will be valuable to me and other members of Congress as we work on the Farm Bill,” Meuser said. “It was also a good reminder of the debt we owe to our fellow citizens who work tirelessly, often in difficult circumstances, from weather to inflation, to feed our families and communities. They continue in the great American tradition of farming to build our country and Commonwealth.”