April 12, 2018
The House Agriculture Committee released its draft of the 2018 Farm Bill today. The bill will go through a committee mark up next week and then go to the floor two weeks later.
UEP’s efforts, alongside the Animal Agriculture Coalition, to push mandatory funding for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has paid off. The Committee has put $450 million into the animal agriculture pest and disease prevention program over the next 5 years.
The bill includes $150 million for the vaccine bank, $70 million in new mandatory funding in year one to prevent and protect the spread of pests and diseases like avian influenza, and an additional $30 million for the national labs that perform animal agriculture pest and disease work. Fifty million dollars will be allocated each year for the next four years, with $30 million reserved for pest and disease prevention and $20 million to be used at the Secretary’s discretion. This is a significant win for UEP’s most important Farm Bill priority and reflects the hard work done by UEP Members and the DC team!
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