WASHINGTON – House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott delivered the following statement after today's hearing titled “Soil Health Practices and Programs that Support Regenerative Agriculture.”

“In February of 2021, my first hearing as Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee was on climate change and the U.S. agriculture and forestry sectors. As I noted in that hearing, long-term changes in weather patterns introduce significant risks to agricultural production, forest resources, and the economy that will likely affect risk-management tools, financial markets, and our global food security, among other important areas,” said Chairman David Scott.

“The significance of this challenge and its risk to our industry are why topics like soil health are important for us to consider since it may play an important role. Our witnesses today provided us with valuable insight to help us better understand the conservation and economic benefits of soil health practices and how they may support various approaches to regenerative agriculture, in addition to the role that healthy soil can play in reduced climate risk,” Chairman David Scott continued.

“Supporting our soil health is nothing new for the Federal government,” added Chairman David Scott. “The hard lessons our industry and country learned through the Dust Bowl led to the creation of the Soil Conservation Service – now the Natural Resources Conservation Service. We cannot ignore the importance of soil health in this way again. As we face ever-growing climate challenges, managing soil health is one of the most effective ways farmers can increase crop productivity and profitability while protecting natural resources.”

Video of Chairman Scott’s opening statement can be found here.

Photos for use from this hearing can be found here.

Full video of the hearing can be found here.