GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Congressman Don Davis visited the Pitt County Agriculture Center Thursday evening to hear from local farmers. It was part of his week-long Farm Bill listening tour.
Davis said he hosted these sessions to better understand the priorities of farmers in the area, before upcoming negotiations regarding the bill.
Davis’s team said these listening sessions are held every five years. They said this particular session is important because some policies from the previous bill are set to expire.
“Many of us here are taxpayers, we now have paid into the system and as we look at how we divide up the resources, I just want to put in perspective of what we’re talking about,” said the North Carolina representative.
The listening session also served as an informational session. Davis’s team explained parts of the bill, including the face that nutrition is the costliest sector.
“What is so key about the nutrition program is that there’s nobody in Eastern North Carolina who is left hungry,” legislative aide Nathaniel Dullea said. “We can’t have that (hunger problems), we grow too much food in this country to let that happen.”
Constituents talked to the congressman about their concerns, from equity to mental health support.
Matt Stevens, Director of Pitt County Cooperative Extension, said Pitt County was a great location to get farmer input.
“Pitt County is the 10th largest agriculture county in North Carolina, so we have a thriving agriculture industry here, and this is a chance for our farmers to speak directly to the congressman about what they think is important as far as agriculture and the farm bill,” Stevens said.
Davis also announced at the listening session that he’ll be opening his Pitt County headquarters this Saturday.
