AFIA Tips Hat to Congress for Farm Bill that Supports Animal Agriculture

December 13, 2018

Contact Victoria Broehm

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) applauded federal lawmakers late yesterday for passing a Farm Bill that supports many provisions to improve animal health and welfare and expand market opportunities for the animal food industry. 

"This year, our leaders in Congress accomplished a monumental task – they put aside the partisan bickering that so many associate with politics today to compromise on tough issues and reach agreement on a Farm Bill that will benefit millions of Americans and improve our agricultural communities nationwide,” said AFIA’s President and CEO Joel G. Newman. “We thank the House and Senate agriculture committee members and those on the Farm Bill conference committee for their unwavering commitment to shepherding this legislation through and encourage President Donald Trump to quickly sign it into law.”

AFIA is pleased to see the 2018 Farm Bill include several provisions, such as:

• Reauthorization for the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, at $200 million and $34.5 million respectively, the same level as the last farm bill. Agricultural trade is crucial for the success of the animal food industry and these two programs provide the industry greater opportunities to build new markets and grow agricultural exports.
• Authorizations for the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program and the National Animal Vaccine Bank, which provides mandatory funding for research into animal health and diseases as well as support for measures to help the animal agriculture industry act quickly when concerns are identified. This investment in animal health is a good start and will help ensure the industry is better prepared now and into the future to prevent and respond to animal disease outbreaks.
• Continued support for several agricultural research programs, such as the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, which encourages public-private partnerships to solve some of agriculture’s most pressing challenges.
• Greater regulatory consistency by removing “horses” from the definition of “pets” in the Protecting Animals with Shelter provision without compromising the intent of the language.?

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About AFIA 

Founded in 1909, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), based in Arlington, Va., is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to representing the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the U.S. animal food industry and its suppliers. The organization’s membership is comprised of more than 680 domestic and international companies that represent the total feed industry—manufacturers of commercial and integrated feed and pet food, ingredient suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, industry support and equipment manufacturers. AFIA members manufacture more than 75 percent of the feed and 70 percent of the non-grain ingredients used in the country. AFIA is also recognized as the leader on international industry developments, and holds membership in the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF).