Today, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig delivered the following opening statement at a Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee hearing titled "The State of the Livestock Industry: Producer Perspectives." Watch the full hearing here.

Good morning. I want to thank Chairman Mann and Ranking Member Costa for convening this hearing. I also want to thank the witnesses for being here. As spring approaches, I know this is a busy season for you, and I appreciate you coming to Washington during such a critical time to update us.

I am concerned about the state of the industry. We have animal disease outbreaks, high input costs, a hold up of USDA cost-share payments and a destabilized trade environment. None of these things provide certainty for producers or make life more affordable for American families.

Some of this uncertainty could be reduced by a bipartisan farm bill. One that strengthens our animal disease preparedness by investing in the research and infrastructure needed to effectively combat animal disease outbreaks.

We talked about the many reasons we need a bipartisan farm bill last month in our full committee hearing, so I won’t belabor the point, but I hope we can navigate through a partisan reconciliation bill to achieve a bipartisan farm bill this year. Producers need it.

The livestock and poultry industry faces some very serious issues with avian influenza. While I appreciate USDA has given some thought to a new plan to fight the spread in poultry, questions remain. How will it impact trade? Does USDA have the staff to implement this strategy? I’m looking forward to hearing from our panelists today about how this USDA’s approach to hi-path will impact their operations as well as their suggestions for how Congress can work with the Trump administration to better combat this disease.

Finally, farmers are worried that trade fights and continued consolidation will hurt their bottom line. The last time this Administration started a similar trade war, it cost U.S. farmers nearly $30 billion, around a billion of which was in part due to China launching retaliatory tariffs on U.S. pork.

At a time when family farms across the country are disappearing, policymakers should be focused on facilitating access to reliable markets and making the food you produce more affordable for hardworking families. The tariffs on our largest trading partners that went into effect today are going to be devastating to you and to family paychecks across our nation.

Thank you again for being here and to the Livestock Subcommittee for hosting this hearing. I yield back.