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Last updated on Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Indianapolis, Ind. - U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly received the ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award in Indianapolis.
Donnelly was recognized by the Indiana Farm Bureau for his efforts to advocate for Hoosier farmers and rural communities. During the 115th Congress, Donnelly, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has reduced the regulatory burden on farmers, led efforts to expand the use of biofuels, successfully included a number of Hoosier priorities in the 2018 Senate-passed Farm Bill, and pushed the Administration to end the harmful impacts that tariffs have brought on Hoosier farmers. Donnelly has received the 'Friend of Farm Bureau' award for each of the three Congressional sessions he has served in the Senate: the 113th, 114th, and 115th.
Donnelly said, "I am honored to be recognized with the 'Friend of Farm Bureau' award. Indiana's farmers feed the world and are a lifeblood of our state's economy. I will continue to fight every day in the Senate to ensure our farmers have the support and certainty they need."
Donnelly successfully secured several provisions in the Senate-passed 2018 Farm Bill that would support Hoosier farmers, families, and rural communities; improve risk management, conservation, and export promotion programs; and help address the opioid epidemic and food insecurity. These provisions were developed with input from Hoosier farmers after holding 12 listening sessions with nearly every segment of Indiana's agricultural community.
In addition to his work on the Farm Bill, Donnelly has led the efforts in Congress to allow the year-round sale of fuels with higher amounts of ethanol, including E15. Last week, President Trump announced that he is directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement the Donnelly-led provision to allow these year-round sales.
Earlier this year, President Trump signed into law Donnelly's bipartisan Fair Agricultural Reporting Method (FARM) Act, which prevented farmers from being required to file needless, burdensome reports to EPA. As a result, farmers have been able to avoid spending their time and money on reports that will go unused by EPA.
Donnelly also successfully pushed for a resolution to the "grain glitch" that was created by the McConnell-Ryan tax bill. The "grain glitch" was putting family businesses across the country at risk of going out of business, and Donnelly advocated for an appropriate fix to restore a level playing field for grain buyers.
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