U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse points to long-term goals when asked about his priorities upon returning to the House Agriculture Committee.

“Times are tough right now in ag country,” the Washington Republican told the Capital Press. “(We’re) facing a lot of uncertainty, inputs are high, the prices we receive really haven’t kept up like they should.”

He expects to focus on promoting agricultural products and developing markets. He’s advocated increased funding for the federal Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development programs.

“It’s very competitive out there around the world, we compete with a lot of different countries and frankly, we have not invested in that nearly to the extent we should,” Newhouse said. “Improving our ability to compete worldwide is important.”

Newhouse also pointed to research needs.

“We want to make sure farmers and our ag industry stay on the cutting edge of technology,” he said. “That helps us stay competitive as well, increase our efficiency, increase production. We can’t always be the low-cost producers, so we have to be very efficient.”

Newhouse is a third-generation Yakima Valley farmer and former Washington State Department of Agriculture director. Newhouse lives in Sunnyside, where the Newhouse family operates an 850-acre farm, raising hops, tree fruit and grapes.

Farm bill

“The dynamic is different now,” Newhouse said. “We have Republican control in both the House and Senate.”

While the version of the bill developed in the House was “pretty darn good,” the Senate was not as engaged as it needed to be, Newhouse said. The current chairs of the House and Senate ag committees work well together, he said.

Congress extended the 2018 farm bill for another year in December.

“My guess is we won’t use that whole year extension; I’m hopeful we can get this done sooner rather than later,” Newhouse said. “Farmers need an updated farm bill. … We need to have something that meets the challenges we see in farming today.”

Lower Snake River dams

Newhouse has supported the dams, and the entire Pacific Northwest hydroelectric system. He said that will continue.

“Just the need for power going on into the future continues to expand and increase,” he said. “I just can’t see a future without the production of electricity from the dams. We have to have that capacity, and frankly, we need more. Removing baseload power to me makes absolutely no sense.”

Only Congress has the authority to breach the dams, but breaching efforts intensified under the Biden administration. Newhouse points to President Donald Trump’s first term, saying Trump supported hydropower and understands the critical role the dams play.

“I’m anticipating the same kind of support in the next four years,” he said.

Labor a priority

Agricultural labor will continue to be a high priority.

“With the focus on immigration and the southern border, I’m hopeful that will lead us to an opportunity to improve the rules and regulations around the visa programs that agriculture depends on,” he said.

Welcome back

Newhouse was on the House Ag Committee when he was first elected to Congress in 2015.

He had to give it up to serve on the Appropriations Committee, and was chairman of the Congressional Western Congress for two terms. Newhouse received a waiver to serve on both the appropriations and ag committees.

“Truly, that’s where my heart is — the issues are important to me, my community and my district,” Newhouse said. “Congress is working very hard on things that are important to maintain and grow a strong ag industry. In order for me to even better represent (farmers’) interests and concerns, I would encourage people to reach out when they have an idea, a question or a concern I should be aware of. That would be very valuable.”