Delgado Convenes Meeting of 19th Congressional District Agriculture Advisory Committee

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY – Today, Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) convened a meeting of his 19th Congressional District Agriculture Advisory Committee at Bard College to listen to the challenges farmers are facing and focus on legislative priorities for 2020. The committee is made up of a diverse group of family farmers, agriculture professors and experts, representatives of local agriculture non-profits, sustainable farming advocates, and representatives from county Farm Bureaus. The committee includes members from all 11 counties that make up the 19th Congressional District.

“Meeting with farmers across our district is a top priority because it’s my job to be a voice in Congress for the small and family-owned farms that are too often ignored in Washington,” said Delgado. “Listening and understanding the challenges farmers are facing shapes the work that I do. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with my Agriculture Advisory Committee in 2020 to empower small upstate farms that are faced with market consolidation and a difficult farm economy.”

As a member of the Congressional House Agriculture Committee, Delgado has prioritized bringing the voices of small and family-owned farms to Washington. During his first year in office, Rep. Delgado established and met with his in-district Agriculture Advisory Committee, toured more than 25 farms, and sat down with local farmers across the district to hear about the challenges they face in a difficult economy. 

In April of 2019, Rep. Delgado introduced H.R. 2336, the Family Farmer Relief Act, which subsequently passed the House and Senate and was signed into law in August of 2019. In June, Delgado and House colleagues introduced the Young Farmer Success Act, a bipartisan bill to preserve America’s agricultural economy and the security of its national food supply by adding full-time farmers and ranchers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The bill was introduced with the support of the Young Farmers Coalition based in Hudson, New York and included in the landmark, committee-passed College Affordability Act. In December, Delgado co-sponsored the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which passed the House and would ensure upstate New York farmers can access the employees they need through reforms and expansion of the H-2A agricultural guestworker program. Delgado also co-sponsored the bipartisan Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2019, which supports students and dairy farmers by allowing schools that participate in the School Lunch Program to buy flavored and unflavored whole milk for students.