Senate ag committee hearing focuses on Farm Bill energy programs

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Kris Bevill February 15, 2012


Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a handful of bioenergy stakeholders were given the opportunity to present the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry with their opinions on the importance of the Farm Bill’s energy programs during a Feb. 15 committee hearing focused on the legislation’s role in supporting energy and economic growth for rural communities.

The 2008 Farm Bill provided a total of about $2 billion in funding for energy title programs which include the Rural Energy for America Program, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program and the Biorefinery Assistance Program, among others.

The primary message sent to committee members by all who testified during the Feb. 15 hearing was that the energy title programs play a vital role in developing and supporting bioenergy industries and, while budgetary constraints are an accepted fact in current policymaking, witnesses stressed that the Farm Bill’s energy programs deserve to be funded.

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