Field hearing to discuss drought pain to farmers, ranchers

By Jennifer Yachnin | 06/25/2024 06:28 AM EDT

Lawmakers will question a roster of farm and water policy experts.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry and Natural Resources, will hold a field hearing this week on drought. Francis Chung/POLITICO

A Senate panel will host a field hearing in Colorado’s Eastern Plains this week to consider the impacts of persistence drought on farmers and ranchers.

The Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry and Natural Resources will meet in the small city of Burlington on Wednesday to host its meeting, “Hearing on the High Plains: Combating Drought with Innovation.” The city sits about 150 miles east of Denver and about 10 miles from the Kansas state line.

“When I travel across Colorado, I hear how rising input costs and the devastating effects of persistent drought threaten the future of American agriculture,” said Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, the subcommittee’s chair.

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Bennet will be joined by Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, the subcommittee’s top Republican.

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