NBC12, TONY FRANKLIN

Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger made a stop Thursday in Louisa County to discuss conservation and announce a new bill to help farmers utilize conservation practices.

Spanberger visited a farm owned by Dustin Madison, just north of the Town of Louisa. Madison, who also works with USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, testified before congress last year about conservation practices in agriculture and their benefits to farmers and producers.

Spanberger, who is a member of the congressional agricultural committee and chair of the conservation and forestry subcommittee, also announced a new bill that she is introducing this week. The Healthy Soil, Resilient Farmers Act of 2020 aims to ensure that FSA loans are available to farmers who want to employ conservation practices.

“Ensuring that access to the types of practices many producers want to employ across Virginia and the country are something they can employ, they can make decisions based on best conservation practices and they know they have access to the capital and the loan dollars in order to employ them,” Spanberger said.

Spanberger also visited an organic farm near Richmond later in the day.