Moran Minute: Let’s Talk Agriculture

Dear East Texas,

During the last week in August, I spent a lot of time on two topics—Agriculture and Artificial Intelligence. In one of the funnier days at work as a Member of Congress, I found out the hard way a few years ago when I visited a cow/calf operation in the Mount Pleasant area that the term “AI” can mean very different things on the ranch and inside our computers!! Since then, I can assure you that I have never gotten these two very different versions of AI confused. Tune in next week for a Special Edition newsletter on Artificial Intelligence.

But, last week, I sat down with Texas Farm Bureau members in Rusk County to have a family discussion about some very real challenges facing producers on the ground in East Texas. From cattle ranches to timberland to row crops—the men and women who work this land feed our communities, sustain rural jobs, and carry on a way of life that has defined East Texas for generations. When our farmers and ranchers succeed, our entire region succeeds with them. I remain committed to fighting for policies in Washington that support the people who put food on our tables and keep rural East Texas strong. My friend, Jodey Arrington, often says that the Ag industry is critical to our “food, fuel, and fiber”—and he is so right!

Strengthening U.S.-EU Agriculture Ties

But my focus on agriculture didn’t stop in East Texas. As the Chair of the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue (TLD), I led a bipartisan delegation of members of Congress to meet with 16 members of the European Parliament to discuss a variety of topics. Each year, this TLD group meets once in Europe and once in the United States. This year, we hosted in northern California and one of our main topics was agricultural trade. We spent significant time with the tree nut, fruit, and cotton industry representatives in California jointly conveying the continued importance of European markets for American agricultural products, and the need for the EU to reduce regulatory hurdles and non-tariff trade barriers that are hurting American farmers and ranchers and shrinking potential international markets.  

While in northern California, we also discussed the growing role of artificial intelligence in agriculture, from precision farming and crop management to supply chain efficiency. I emphasized the need for the U.S. and EU to work together on smart, forward-looking policies that allow innovation to flourish without saddling each other’s farmers and producers with unnecessary red tape. I am proud to help lead this effort on behalf of East Texas agriculture and innovation.