Kohl testifies for ANLA at House Farm Bill hearing
21 Jul, 2010 LM Direct!WASHINGTON — On July 21, third-generation nurseryman Bernie Kohl, Jr., testified on behalf of the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) before the U.S. House of Representatives on 2008 Farm Bill programs pertinent to the nursery and greenhouse industry. Kohl, president of Angelica Nurseries, the largest production nursery in the state of Maryland, appeared before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture to discuss what is working, and what is not, as Congress moves closer to debating a new farm bill.
Much of Kohl’s testimony focused on new and strengthened programs to prevent and respond to plant pest threats. Foreign pests that have arrived in the U.S. as consequences of globalization are seriously harming the industry with production challenges, quarantines, and lost market access. Emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, and Phytophthora ramorum/sudden oak death are just a few examples of severe challenges causing production problems and market disruption for nurseries. Section 10201 of the 2008 Farm Bill provides important new funding for innovative strategies to identify and address such threats before they establish and affect U.S. producers.
Kohl also praised the National Clean Plant Network, which provides clean, pathogen-tested fruit tree and grapevine material to the industry. The NCPN, again enabled by the 2008 Farm Bill, is setting the stage for harmonization of state certification programs for the interstate movement of targeted plant genera.
Many state nursery and landscape associations have taken advantage of the Farm Bill’s Specialty Crop Block Grant program, which provides funding to states for specialty crop promotion and related programs. Kohl highlighted several success stories, including grants awarded to the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association (to improve the success of roadside plantings for runoff mitigation), and the North Carolina Green Industry Council (for consumer awareness and education on water-efficient landscape practices).
Kohl continued by offering constructive criticism for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative and disaster assistance programs. He also strongly cautioned Subcommittee members on the severe damage that will result if the federal Biomass Crop Assistance Program pays federal subsidies that divert tree bark now going for nursery and landscape uses to energy generation. Kohl’s testimony ended with an admonition that, while not a traditional farm bill issue, agricultural labor must be dealt with by Congress, or we will see a continued and expedited migration to foreign competitors of U.S. specialty crop production and associated on-farm and off-farm jobs.
To view ANLA/Kohl’s full testimony, click here.
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