The Senate Agriculture Committee held its first field hearing on the next farm bill on Friday, April 29, at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chaired the hearing and ranking member Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., was also present to the hear the views of Michigan stakeholders on all titles of the farm bill.

A similar hearing is expected to be held in Arkansas in the next few months.

In a statement after the hearing, Stabenow and Boozman stressed the importance of bipartisanship in the next farm bill.

“Our most recent farm bill passed with the strongest bipartisan support ever,” Stabenow said.

“Sen. Boozman and I continued that strong bipartisan tradition today at this first field hearing. We heard from farmers and others impacted by the farm bill about how we can strengthen this important legislation, grow our economy, and meet serious new challenges facing our country. Michigan is second in the nation for our diversity of crops and home to our Great Lakes, forests and diverse communities of all sizes.

“Today’s witnesses and those submitting testimony provided important and insightful input as we begin the process of writing a new bill. I look forward to joining Sen. Boozman for a field hearing in Arkansas to hear from stakeholders in his home state,” Stabenow said.

“The Senate Agriculture Committee has a long history of working across party lines to produce strong farm bills,” Boozman said.

“The tradition of starting the process off with field hearings in the states of the chair and ranking member sets the tone for putting stakeholders first as we begin farm bill deliberations. I thank Chairwoman Stabenow for holding this very informative hearing, and welcome the valuable input we received from our witnesses.

“There is simply no substitute for getting out of Washington and hearing directly from those impacted by our decisions. I look forward to convening our field hearing in Arkansas, as the Natural State’s agricultural, forestry, conservation, rural development and nutrition communities have plenty of ideas to share with Chairwoman Stabenow and myself,” said Boozman.