Rep. Barrow holds Rural Listening Tour
By Deborah Bennett Millen News Editor

Rep. John Barrow addresses concerns of local citizens during third annual Rural Listening Tour held Thursday, May 31, at the Jenkins County Agriculture Center. (Staff photo by Deborah Bennett)

Local farmers and other interested citizens were given the opportunity to "bend the ear" of 12th District Congressman John Barrow during the third annual Rural Listening Tour sponsored by the legislator. The meeting was held Thursday, May 31, at the Jenkins County Agriculture Center.

Most of the discussion revolved around the upcoming Farm Bill. Proposals included in the legislation deal were conservation, trade, nutrition programs, rural development, energy, support of specialty crop producers and beginning producer support.

"This is a Farm Bill for the farmers and not for the landowners," commented Rep. Barrow.

"This thing is moving forward on a rocket docket," he said of the legislation.

The proposed 2007 Farm Bill could be presented to the House of Representatives prior to the summer break which occurs in August, but Rep. Barrow noted, "We are not going to rubber stamp the Farm Bill we inherited. There are areas where we can make some improvements."

One area discussed was the consolidation of local agricultural offices into single offices that service multiple counties.

"I do not support the consolidation of local agricultural offices. I don't think that helps the farmers," Rep. Barrow said.

Improvements in the area of agriculture research and development were also discussed.

"We have a stove pipe mentality in this area. Agencies don't communicate with each other," Rep. Barrow commented.

During a question and answer session, attention was called to the $3 billion disaster relief funding recently passed by Congress. Eligible years are 2005, 2006 and part of 2007. The bill also covers livestock, provided the producer can prove that incurred losses were related to the failure of feed crops.

Developing incentives to get more young people involved in the agriculture industry and assistance for producers who wish to revert their CRP tree land back into farm land was also discussed.

Rep. Barrow is serving his second term of office and is the only Congressman who serves on both the Agriculture Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee. He is also a member of the Transportation Committee.

The meeting in Millen was one of 10 scheduled stops on the Listening Tour.