NEFB calls infrastructure bill fundamental to American ag

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NEFB calls infrastructure bill fundamental to American ag

Nebraska Farm Bureau President Mark McHargue says passing the infrastructure bill would modernize the country’s outdated roads and bridges. “Our dams, our roads, our bridges – I mean everything that it takes to transport our ag products goes across the roads, through water or on rail somewhere and just a lot of that infrastructure has not been invested in in quite awhile,” McHargue says.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Job Act invests $110 billion in roads and bridges, $65 billion in broadband, $55 billion in federal water infrastructure projects, and $17.3 billion in ports and inland waterways.

He says investments in broadband could change the rate at which Nebraska agriculture can advance. “To get the broadband out to the last acre will be really expensive,” he says. “We’re looking at ways if this does pass, how do we fundamentally make sure it gets out to our farms and ranches where we are collecting all of the data.”

He says NEFB also supports the nation’s livestock and insect haulers by providing an additional 150 air-mile radius Hours of Service exemption.

He says he wants the state’s three House members to vote yes on the package but is unsure if that will happen.

Mark McHargue, president of Nebraska Farm Bureau:

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