Food is a national security issue and passing an updated farm bill is of critical importance to both farmers and consumers, especially the food insecure. Rodger Wasson visits with Congressman Jim Costa, a leading member of the House of Representatives Agriculture committee, who voted for advancing the long overdue ‘work in progress” to the US Senate. Rodger Wasson and Congressman Costa discuss agriculture policy and Congressman Costa explains the importance of the Farm Bill as America’s food safety net, noting that despite challenges in agriculture, American farmers now produce more food with less than 5% of the population working in agriculture compared to 40% employed in Ag 126 years ago. The conversation covered concerns about Proposition 12 animal confinement standards potentially being eliminated in the Farm Bill, the need for labor reform affecting the estimated 70% undocumented workforce in California agriculture, and the impact of trade wars on agricultural markets. Congressman Costa emphasizesthe need for bipartisanship in passing the Farm Bill and expresseds optimism about American agriculture’s ability to adapt and innovate despite current challenges.

Regenerative means understanding the cycles of nature and operating within those cycles of nature, producing a bounty that is true profit created from sunlight, microbial life in the soil and rain water, generating more than was there. Will Harris practices what he preaches on his family’s White Oak Pastures in Georgia. While specialists may be necessary in many ventures, Will says that it’s better to be a generalist when striving to be a good regenerative farmer With his daughters, their spouses and employees White Oak Pastures grows, processes and distributes their own cattle, goats, chickens, pigs and vegetables. They don’t want to get any bigger but Will does want more farmers to try regenerative farming and more consumers to seek out food from those farms. Listening to this conversation between Rodger Wasson and Will Harris will make some want to do one or the other of those goals. www.whiteoakpastures.com