Twenty trade associations representing various agricultural, food and environmental interest groups are urging Congress to pass a new farm bill this year. The groups recently launched a campaign called “Farm Bill for America’s Families: Sustaining Our Future.” The campaign’s website includes information about the legislation and a call for the public to get involved.

“The farm bill is one of the most impactful pieces of legislation when it comes to protecting our food supply and food security, advancing conservation and environmental stewardship, and ensuring the men and women who produce our food are able to feed a growing population,” USA Rice Farmers chair Curtis Berry says. “USA Rice is advocating that Congress prioritize passage of a new farm bill that ensures rice farmers can continue doing what they do best – growing rice – for generations to come.”

Campaign organizers note that the farm bill supports more than 2 million farms covering nearly 900 million acres of land. It directly affects 46 million jobs in the country. It also supplies more than 9 billion meals each year to the 21 million American families who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

Other organization joining the Farm Bill for America’s Families campaign include the American Farm Bureau Association, the  American Seed Trade Association, the American Sugar Alliance, the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities Board on Agriculture Assembly, the American Soybean Association, Ducks Unlimited, the Environmental Defense Fund, Farm Credit, Feeding America, the National Alliance of Forest Owners, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the Nations Association of Wheat Growers, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Cotton Council, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, the Nature Conservancy, the National Pork Producers Council, the United States Peanut Federation and USA Rice as well as the Nebraska, Virginia and New York Farm Bureaus.