Congressman Donald Bacon Representative of Nebraska’s 2nd District will be in western Nebraska June 24-25.

Bacon is on the House Committee on Agriculture and is looking to broaden his knowledge of agriculture in the state.

“I was raised on a corn, soybean farm and cattle operation,” he said. “So, this is a chance for me to expand my knowledge on sugar beets, dry beans and a good opportunity to meet the folks of Nebraska agriculture.”

The Farm Bill is coming up this year and Bacon said his goal is to make sure Nebraska gets a good Farm Bill.

“Part of that is understanding crop insurance and the needs of the western part of the state,” Bacon said. “We need to have a the right safety net that’s cost effective and smart.”

The North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico is a focus for many agriculturalist, as agricultural exports to Mexico have declined over the first few months of 2017.

Bacon said we’ve had a lot of barriers put up with our grains and meat commodities.

“We want to make sure we’re aggressive in the trade discussions opening up those doors,” he said.

Bacon also added, the market has to fair with even competition, something sugar beet growers in Nebraska and other states have brought up as Mexico has been dumping their sugar at low prices.

“On the sugar beet side we know Mexico is dumping their sugar at low prices to help out their own market, we can’t avoid a discussion with Mexico,” Bacon said. “I think in the end if we have honest negotiations with them we can find a middle ground.”