03/22/2018
We got a later start today due to the snow here in Washington, D.C. which led to the government being shut down. Fortunately, Bill Wehrum, the current Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation for the Environmental Protection Agency, was able to meet with us later in the afternoon. We talked with Mr. Wehrum about a wide array of topics ranging from the amount of ethanol that is blended with our gasoline, to greenhouse emissions, and how he found himself with the EPA.
Later we attended the Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. Ag and Food Policy Summit, a meeting of government officials, industry leaders, and farmers around the nation. There we listened to Senators Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow, who sit on the Senate Ag Committee as Chairman and Ranking Member. The senators emphasized the need for a bipartisan Senate Farm Bill focused on protecting crop insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
We attended a reception after the conference concluded where we were able to network and converse with lobbyists, lawyers, and legislators from all corners of the agriculture sector. Lastly, we had the pleasure of speaking with Illinois Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois' 17th District. She closed out our day by answering several questions about the House of Representative's Farm Bill and the process of drafting and passing pieces of legislation as big as the Farm Bill.
