Washington Report

Losing Another Champion in Congress

By JohnWalt Boatright, Director of National Affairs

Members of Congress come and

go, but it is not often that Florida agriculture loses a powerful advocate within the town of Washington, D.C. It is even rarer that we lose that person of his own accord.

The Tea Party tidal wave swept Republicans into power during the 2010 elections, the first time in decades. That predicated a 2012 congressional campaign involving a small-town, large-animal veterinarian with big ideas challenging a seasoned incumbent with plenty of cash.

Ted Yoho wanted to run a true grassroots campaign for Congress. He did, and he won.

Newly elected Rep. Yoho quickly made himself at home on the House Agriculture Committee, going to bat for the Farm Bill programs that support our industry in down times and fund the research that guards against the pest and disease threats we constantly fear in Florida.

On issue after issue during his eight years in the U.S. Congress, Florida agriculture could count on Yoho at the producers’ side, whether it was the immediate aftermath of a hurricane, the unfair trade practices of a foreign government or the unintended impacts of our own government’s policy.

Trade has been the defining issue in Florida agriculture since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law in 1994. In every trade deal, there are winners and losers, and it was clear that Florida’s specialty crops would lose, and lose big. Yoho helped sound the alarm to U.S. trade officials and lead the Florida delegation to a remedy during his tenure, one we hope is realized in short time.

On agricultural labor, a vitally important priority for industry,

U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho is retiring after eight years in Congress.

Yoho listened attentively for years and devised a solution of his own. During the stretch of an entire week in September 2019, he crisscrossed the state, meeting with Farm Bureau members in eight different town hall meetings to have a candid conversation on the nuances of agricultural labor and the stagnant policy that governs it.

To many producers, it was a breath of fresh air. They did not always agree with Yoho, and they did not have to, but they appreciated his willingness to seek the root of the problem

and hear them out. True to form, Yoho offered his own solution that addressed the existing domestic workforce while offering an uninhibited future flow of legal, reliable workers.

In recognition of his fierce defense of agriculture, Rep. Yoho was bestowed the coveted Golden

Plow Award by American Farm Bureau. In the days since, it was displayed prominently upon entering his personal office on the seventh floor of the Longworth House Office Building. It is a well-earned testament to a great friend of Farm Bureau, and an equally committed and passionate staff under his leadership.

For his support of Florida agriculture and his advocacy on behalf of good government, Florida Farm Bureau, and the state’s farmers and ranchers, are immensely grateful to our friend, U.S. Congressman Ted Yoho, for a job well done.