I’m very pleased to welcome Secretary Perdue to the Agriculture Committee. It took a while to get you here but it’s nice to see you’ve hit the ground running now that you’re at USDA. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re ready to work with you.

I want to thank the Chairman for calling another hearing to allow us to hear from the Farm Credit System and its regulator today. There’s no question that access to credit is necessary for farmers to stay in business, but access to capital is also necessary for ag businesses and rural communities.

I don’t want to find us in another situation where leadership steps in and mucks this up by adding unrealistic work requirements or some other ideological policy that would blow up the whole bill.

The budget cuts programs that help our smaller communities be able to update their water systems and farmers navigate farm programs. These programs support rural areas, which support agriculture, which allows us to have cheap, safe and dependable food.

The President’s request would cut USDA’s budget by $4.7 billion, or 21 percent. It demonstrates a lack of understanding of farm programs and their impact on rural America.

It’s not going to be easy. Every farm bill I have been a part of has been more difficult to pass than the previous one. There are myriad reasons for this but, given the challenges that are sure to lie ahead, I believe 2017 is our best opportunity. I’m ready to get to work.

We have a new farm bill to write this year and I will oppose any attempts to further reduce farm bill spending. I think that, by and large, the current farm bill is working as we intended. We will have to make some tweaks to different programs but we should not be looking to reduce our budget.

But, now, I would like to see us get back to 35 or even 40 million acres in this next farm bill. This increase will improve water quality and address the declining wildlife populations we’ve experienced in my region of the country. I think we can find a way to get there but we will need to simplify and reform the program; I wouldn’t support an increase in acres without some changes.

The Pesticide Registration Enhancement Act, now in its fourth iteration, is the result of work done by a broad coalition of industry and environmental stakeholders. The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act alleviates additional permitting requirements that would have little to no environmental benefit.

Looking specifically at SNAP food choice it would seem pretty straightforward that we not allow SNAP dollars to be spent on junk food. But how do you define junk food?