On most weekends, you can find Joe at one of our region’s farmer’s markets, sampling the many products produced by eastern Connecticut’s agricultural industry. Agriculture is a critical component of our region’s economy, and Joe has made supporting the district’s farmers a top priority.
Learn more about Joe’s work:
Helping farmers lower energy costs and conserve their land. Joe has long worked with eastern Connecticut’s agriculture community to expand federal support for new conservation and alternative energy tools for our farmers. Joe has supported and expanded programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) programs, which eastern Connecticut farmers use today to conserve their land and lower energy costs – such as the new anaerobic digester at Fort Fills Farm in in Thompson.
Supporting our dairy farmers. As a founding member and co-chair of the House Dairy Farmers Caucus, Joe has worked hand in hand with our dairy sector as they faced uncertainty and instability in dairy pricing. Throughout the pandemic, Joe made sure that dairy farmers received the relief they were due when calculating COVID assistance. Before COVID, he changed the law to help dairy farmers save dollars and time when transporting their products. And now, he’s delivering funding for new technologies to recycle animal waste into energy to run their farms.
Fairness for our aquaculture sector. Joe helped ensure that shellfish growers weren’t left behind during COVID-19 when restaurant closures hit this industry hard and fought to ensure aquaculture producers were included in relief from financial losses during the early days of the pandemic.
Helping build the next generation of farmers. Joe wrote a bill to replenish the aging farming workforce and encourage college students to begin careers in farming by providing student debt relief to young farmers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Supporting the agricultural workforce. Joe is fighting for legislation like the Farm Workforce Modernization Act to help farms hire the help they need, while also ensuring those who harvest our food are compensated fairly. This bipartisan effort would support year-round farming industries like the dairy industry.