By Meredith Lee Hill

Welcome to the incoming House Republican majority. MA will be your guide through the transition, as House Ag Committee Republicans are taking stock of their slim majority and how it will impact the farm bill, with jockeying for new spots on the panel already underway. Today, we’re talking with Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee.

MEET THE MAJORITY: House Ag Committee Republicans are starting to take stock of their slim majority and some of their goals for the next Congress. Republican lawmakers and aides don’t expect any challenges to Chair-apparent, the current ranking member G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.). No other lawmaker has raised the possibility with a wider swath of members at this point.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll feature parts of our conversations with House Ag Republicans and some of their early farm bill priorities.

MA recently caught up with Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee. Below is a snippet of our conversation.

Some of Scott’s farm bill priorities are adjustments to crop insurance (especially for fruit and vegetable producers) and the farm safety net amid record inflation:

“With input cost and labor challenges and everything else that those farmers are having, I think that trying to find a way that they can better manage risk and potentially minimize losses in the case of bad weather or market conditions and other things is something that I would like to see included in the next farm bill.”

Addressing lingering supply chain snags for seed and chemicals: 

“Where we have those vulnerabilities, I think that we're going to have to work to help companies, whether it's through USDA loan programs or other things, build, for example, nitrogen plants inside the United States of America so that we're not so dependent on Russia and Belarus and other inputs coming out of the Black Sea region.”

Nutrition programs: 

“I think that we can get to a scenario under which the money is actually better spent on nutrition than it currently is. The big debate, I think, will come down around work requirements for able-bodied working-age adults...You're not going to get everybody to vote for them. But if we're careful in how we craft it, maybe we can get to a bipartisan solution there where you say, look, we're going to time limit you if you're an able-bodied, working-age adult. But, as part of [that] we're going to make sure that when you go back to work, you're better off going back to work with regard to how much money you have to spend on nutrition than you would if you didn't.”

Navigating the farm bill through a slim GOP majority as House Freedom Caucus members have already said they want the legislation to be one of their big efforts in the upcoming Congress:

“I'll leave that up to G.T. You know, he's going to be our chair. That's a decision and a discussion that I'm sure that G.T. will have with the members of the committee. I think that most of us would prefer that we be able to pass it as a whole. But if you're talking about a 3 to 4 to 5 seat majority — it's clearly got to be done in a bipartisan manner. And, you're going to have a tremendous number of outside groups weighing in and raising money off of the issue. And never, never underestimate how much money outside groups can make with a false narrative.”