MANDAN, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today addressed the North Dakota Association of County Employees state convention, a gathering of Farm Service Agency (FSA) workers from across the state. Hoeven recognized FSA State Director Brad Thykeson, the recently-appointed FSA State Committee and all of the county-level employees for the important service they provide in helping producers manage their risk and maintain their operations.
During his remarks, Hoeven outlined his efforts to give FSA workers the tools they need to support farmers and ranchers, while also strengthening North Dakota’s role as an agricultural research leader. Specifically, Hoeven discussed his work to secure:
- Additional farm assistance, building upon the $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program.
- Hoeven is working with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) to:
- Expand FBA to cover a greater share of producer losses.
- Include acres that were prevented from being planted as eligible under FBA.
- Expand support for specialty crops and sugar producers.
- Increase farm ownership and operating loan limits.
- Hoeven stressed that this additional assistance would help ease financial struggles in farm country until the enhancements to crop insurance and ARC/PLC that he worked to secure in the One Big Beautiful Bill come into effect later this year.
- Hoeven is working with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) to:
- An expansion of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) operations in North Dakota as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reorganization plan.
- North Dakota is set to gain 45 additional ARS employees and 10 new research projects totaling approximately $28.5 million in annual research.
- Hoeven has been working to ensure that USDA utilizes the state’s agriculture research expertise as part of the department’s plan to relocate its services closer to farmers, ranchers and rural communities.
- Hoeven hosted USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Under Secretary for Agriculture Research, Education and Economics Scott Hutchins in North Dakota to showcase the state’s ag leadership as the department developed its reorganization plans.
- This builds on Grand Farm’s selection as both the National Program Manager and the first proving ground for USDA’s National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech (NPG-Ag) earlier this month.
“FSA county employees serve as a critical first line of communication between producers and USDA’s farm safety net programs. Their support is essential as we roll out the improvements we made to crop insurance affordability, as well as ARC and PLC so producers can navigate these programs and make complex decisions for their operations. We will need their support again as we advance the additional assistance that’s needed to keep our farmers in the game until the enhancements we passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill come into full effect,” said Hoeven. “At the same time, we continue to invest in the future of American agriculture, and that’s what this expansion of ARS in North Dakota is all about. We worked with Secretary Rollins and Under Secretary Hutchins to bring these research projects closer to producers. We’re leveraging North Dakota’s already strong leadership in ag research to truly deliver results for our producers and conduct research that gives them more tools to strengthen their operations over the long-term.”
