This Committee focuses so much on farmers that the perspective of food retailers and the role they play in getting food to consumers can be lost. For many, a grocery store may not be easily accessible.

Agriculture is no stranger to fluctuating commodity prices and we’ve all witnessed the impact of extreme highs and lows. When commodity prices drop, rural communities, landowners, farmers and business all feel the impact. This is why it is important that we maintain a strong safety net and support a wide range of opportunities for rural citizens.

I’ve been urging, for some time now, that the Committee take a good look at the flexibility states have when administering SNAP. I understand that this is done to simplify the process but I worry that it’s gone too far and they now have too much leeway.

While the rural economy remains strong, folks are getting concerned about the potential long-term impacts of deteriorating prices. Of course, this is why those of us on the Agriculture Committee work so hard to pass a farm bill every five years. I do have some concerns with the current bill but it’s at low price times like this that the bill’s safety net is so important.

I’m looking forward to hearing more about the Commission’s efforts to harmonize its rules with foreign regulators, create margin rules as a protection in the un-cleared swaps market, address cybersecurity and automated trading, and improve data collection.

The topic of today’s hearing is very timely, given what’s happening across the countryside right now. Commodity prices have fallen, and will likely continue to fall, and land values continue to increase. This has a lot of farmers asking if they will have access to the financing they need for the next planting season.

The Administration deserves credit for listening to our concerns and now needs to immediately start work on the numbers and get the program back on track.

A strong agriculture sector and stable food supply is critical to national security. And agriculture has an important role to play when it comes to our country’s national security interests, something I don’t think a lot of people really understand.

There are a lot of interesting things happening with big data and agriculture. These all have the potential to provide huge benefits to not just farmers, but consumers, and the economy as a whole.

I'm pleased that we can follow up on what I thought was a good discussion in June. As I said then, I think we need to keep a close eye on how other countries subsidize agriculture. This is especially important to keep in mind during our debates on the farm safety net. We need a level playing field if we are going to be competitive in a global market.