U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan was last night honored by the North Carolina Farm Credit Associations and AgFirst Farm Credit Bank for her work on behalf of farmers, ranchers and rural communities.

"I was so honored to join the North Carolina Farm Credit Associations and the AgFirst Farm Credit Bank last night," said Hagan. "Our farm credit banks ensure our dedicated and resourceful farmers and ranchers can continue to provide our families with a safe and secure food supply grown on American farms. Agriculture is North Carolina's largest industry, and I will continue working in the Senate for our farmers and rural communities."

Hagan included two key provisions in the Food Safety Modernization Act to protect farmers. Hagan cosponsored an amendment with Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), who is a farmer, to exempt small producers from new government regulations. Hagan also included a provision in the bill to help farmers who suffer losses due to erroneous recalls. For example, North Carolina tomato growers suffered when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mistakenly cited tomatoes following a salmonella outbreak when the problem turned out to be a pepper farm in Mexico. For more about those provisions, click here. 

Hagan was also instrumental in passing the Pigford farmers funding bill after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) acknowledged that it unfairly discriminated against African American farmers when they were applying for loans and other USDA programs. Hagan worked closely with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to ensure 4,000 African-American farmers in North Carolina and 75,000 nationwide can receive settlements following decades of discrimination by the Department of Agriculture.