WASHINGTON – Congressman Rick Crawford will welcome the House Agriculture Committee to Jonesboro, AR for one of only four 2012 Farm Bill Field Hearings. The hearing will be on Friday, March 30th on the campus of Arkansas State University.

“It is an honor to host Chairman Lucas and committee members for a field hearing in Jonesboro to give farmers in our region a chance to have their voice heard before a new Farm Bill is written,” said Crawford. “Our district is home to a great variety of agriculture interests. In the Delta we grow rice, cotton, corn, beans and even peanuts. In the Ozark Foothills we have chicken, cattle, dairy and timber producers. The field hearing in Jonesboro will be one of only four field hearings in the entire country and will be Arkansas’s opportunity to make sure that a new Farm Bill protects our rural communities and ensures the viability of Southern Agriculture.”

The field hearing will bring House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, and other Agriculture Committee Members to Arkansas to hear firsthand how farm policy is affecting farmers before a new Farm Bill is written.

“I am pleased to announce a farm bill field hearing in Congressman Crawford’s district,” Chairman Lucas said. “This will be a great opportunity to meet members of the agriculture community in his district, recognize the contributions our farmers make for this nation and around the world, and discuss the challenges our producers continue to face. We need more members like Congressman Crawford who understand and appreciate agriculture because now, more than ever, it is important that we stand strongly together in support of production agriculture and rural economies.”

Who: Congressman Rick Crawford, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas
What: 2012 Farm Bill Field Hearing in Jonesboro, AR
Where: Fowler Center at Arkansas State University, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro, AR
When: Friday, March 30, 2012 at 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Farm Bill Field Hearing Background: Field Hearings are open to the public and all members of the press. Press members will be allowed into Riceland Hall at approximately 8:45 AM on the day of the hearing and should have some form of press identification and be willing to check-in at the press table in the lobby. Press kits will be available to every member of the press who checks in at the press table. Witness lists for the hearing will be posted on the House Agriculture Committee website on Thursday, March 29th. Field hearings operate just like Congressional hearings, there will be no open mic and only witnesses and members of the Agriculture Committee will be allowed to speak.

Background Documents:
1. What is the Farm Bill 
2. Farm Policy Priorities
3. Additional information can be found on the Agriculture Committee Website

Congressman Crawford Background: Congressman Rick Crawford represents the leading rice producing Congressional district in the United States. He serves on the House Agriculture Committee. He co-founded the Rice Caucus and the Chicken Caucus in the United States House of Representatives.

What Is The Farm Bill