Page 11 - Farm Bill Series_The 7 Things You Should Know

The first hearing was actually held in Washington on May 26, with Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack as the key witness.

Majority staff members thought they had outlined a pretty good game plan. They knew that
deficit discussions would have a big impact on whatever they did, and as the year started to
unfold, there was a growing sense of urgency.

Meeting on the Michigan State University campus for the first field hearing in early June,
Stabenow and ranking member Pat Roberts heard from 15 witnesses, who discussed everything
from cherries to sugar beets, dairy, farm credit and research.

In August, Roberts returned home to Kansas to kick off a farm bill listening session in Wichita.
All in all, there were eight Senate Ag Committee hearings.

On June 24, 2011, House Ag chair Lucas kicked off a series of 11 comprehensive “farm bill
audit” hearings on Capitol Hill. With an eye on many of his new committee members – many of
whom had been aligned with the Tea Party – Lucas decided to look at the farm bill from an
accountant’s perspective: examining how much “bang” taxpayers and farmers were getting for
their bucks.

“My goal is twofold,” Lucas said as he opened his first hearing. He wanted USDA to present a
spending snapshot of all farm and food programs so members could look for duplication,

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