House Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Livestock and Poultry
Chairman Costa of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture opened a meeting of this body the other day with a prepared statement. That statement included the following:
“Today’s hearing builds on the previous work of this subcommittee, including a hearing we had two months ago with USDA Under Secretary Greg Ibach on our ability to prevent and respond to animal pests and diseases, including the implementation of a new suite of animal health programs that was enacted as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. Effective administration of animal pest and disease prevention, mitigation, and eradication is crucial, especially now as threats of Virulent Newcastle Disease, Cattle Fever Ticks, and African Swine Fever threaten farmers and ranchers across the country.
I found it worth passing along that the three threats that were particularly identified in the statement all are (or could be) related to arthropod pests. Not sure how this impacted the 2018 Farm Bill, but perhaps researchers can use these statements to support the need for research on these pests.
Read the full opening statement here: Opening statement of Subcommittee on Livestock
