Agriculture
Agriculture is an integral part of Central Florida’s thriving economy. With hard-working farmers, fertile land, a lush climate, and a year-round growing season, we help feed our country and the world. Agriculture and national resource industries manage about two-thirds of our state’s land area. Conservation and sound environmental management on these lands are critical to maintaining clean water and air, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation areas, and guarding against climate change.
In the 9th District, we have over 300,000 acres of farmland, including the top cattle producing county in Florida (Osceola) and the second-highest citrus producing county (Polk).
Crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries production output and direct employment are:
Osceola: output $108 million; jobs 622
Polk: output $712 million; jobs 11,534
Orange: output $285 million; jobs 2,929
As a member of the Agriculture Committee, Darren is working in Congress to support and grow these industries, maintaining support for workers in these jobs, and the communities that depend on them. He is working on the Agriculture Committee and with the Appropriations Committee to fund research to combat citrus greening, which is hurting our groves. He is working to advance cattle research and provide access to crop insurance for our emerging blueberry and peach growers.
Darren also serves on the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit. He is working on this subcommittee to ensure the smooth functioning of commodity exchanges, promote access to agricultural credit, and support rural development and electrification.
Selected bills on the agriculture co-sponsored by Congressman Soto:
H.R.831 - BALE Act of 2017 – The bill replaces the existing 80% limit on the portion of a loan that USDA may guarantee with limits that range from 80%-90%, depending on the principal amount of the loan. For socially disadvantaged or beginning farmers or ranchers, the bill replaces the existing 90% limit with limits that range from 85%-95%, depending on the principal amount of the loan.
H.R.1406 - Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2017 – To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption.
H.R.800 - New Deal Rural Broadband Act of 2017 – To establish the Office of Rural Broadband Initiatives within the Department of Agriculture, to preserve open Internet requirements. The Under Secretary shall administer all rural and underserved areas broadband-related grant, loan, and loan guarantee programs administered by the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service
H.R.909 - Pet and Women Safety Act of 2017 – To protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence from emotional and psychological trauma caused by acts of violence or threats of violence against their pets.
H.R. 1847 – PAST ACT – To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional unlawful acts under the Act, strengthen penalties for violations of the Act, improve Department of Agriculture enforcement of the Act, and for other purposes.
H.R. 1626 - Student Agriculture Protection Act of 2017 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income certain amounts realized on the disposition of property raised or produced by a student farmer, and for other purposes.
HR 112 – Emergency Citrus Disease Response Act of 2017 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to temporarily allow expensing of certain costs of replanting citrus plants lost by reason of casualty.
More on Agriculture
Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson and Darren Soto introduced the PRICE Act, a bill that will increase transparency in the cattle market, improve risk management, and support new and expanding meat processors. Earlier this year, the U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the House of Representatives passed key environmental initiatives secured by Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09) in a $259.5 billion funding package that consists of fiscal year 2021 State-Foreign Operations, Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA, Interior-Environment, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bills.
Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) led a bipartisan letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, requesting that the cattle beef industry be included in ongoing and future discussions of loss recovery programs. This request comes in light of the immense financial losses in the United States Beef Cattle Industry, which have been estimated at around $13.6 billion.
Today, U.S. Representatives Darren Soto (D-FL) and Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced the Food Safety Modernization for Innovative Technologies Act, a bipartisan bill which would formalize a regulatory framework for food derived from cell-cultured technology.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) celebrated the more than 400 bills, including more than 275 bipartisan bills still awaiting action in the GOP-controlled Senate, passed by the Democratic House Majority over the past year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Reps. Darren Soto (FL-09) and Ted. S Yoho (FL-03) led a bipartisan letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture increase funding for orange juice purchase in Florida to $90 million, doubling the initial allocation from this past summer.
The comments were made before twenty Democratic presidential hopefuls debate for a second time in Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Congressman Darren Soto say retaliatory tariffs on American goods are hurting Florida farmers.
Soto says raising the price of their products such as orange juice makes it harder to compete with other providers.
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed five bills introduced by Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09) in the Conference Report on H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (more commonly known as the Farm Bill), a bill to strengthen our nation’s farm and food economy. In the Farm Bill, Rep.
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the second version of the Farm Bill (H.R.2, Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018), by a narrow margin of 213-211. Congressman Darren Soto, Member of the House Committee on Agriculture, released the following statement after voting against this legislation: