Ag Dawgs on the Hill
Last summer, Michael Howard, a rising fourth-year Honors Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics student, participated in the Congressional Agricultural Fellowship (featured below). This summer, he was excited to be offered an internship with the House Committee on Agriculture for his second summer on the Hill. He chose to pursue this specific internship because he wanted to gain experience directly with federal agricultural policy from a legislative perspective and knew that the House Committee on Agriculture was the best way to fulfill this. In his position, he prepares the committee room and staff for hearings and legislative markups, sits in on stakeholder meetings with committee staff, and conducts research on agricultural issues that might be affected by policy. He has learned how much federal policy affects agricultural production, conservation, and nutritional needs. Additionally, he learned that there are a lot of jobs in agricultural policy, showing him the vast array of futrure job possiblities. From his coursework, he has been able to utilize his economics foundation to analyze how certain policies will affect a problem.
Congressional Agricultural Fellowship
From L to R CAES Congressional Ag Fellows: Olivia Cook, Joseph Waters, Adeline Bennett, Andrew Luckey, Anna Clifton, and Luke Krohn
Rising senior, Olivia Cook, is double majoring in Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics as well as pursuing minors in Environmental Law, Law, Jurisprudence and the State, and Food and Fiber Marketing. Within the fellowship, she is with Representative Austin Scott's office, who serves as the Vice Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. Scott represents Georgia's eighth congressional district. In her position, she works to answer constituent phone calls, gives Capitol tours, and attends committee hearings. Her favorite aspect so far has been sitting in on constituent meetings with Representative Scott and the members of his staff to learn about the challenges facing constituents and how legislation can have an impact on their lives.
She says that her coursework in Econometrics, Intermediate Microeconomics, and Agribusiness Finance has helped establish a strong foundation in policy analysis and its effect on the economy, preparing her for this fellowship. Furthermore, her courses, such as Agricultural Policy, Food Policy, and Rural Economic Development, have been useful to understand agricultural policy specifically, as well as to understand policy debates she may witness. She is grateful for the program allowing her to learn about the legislative process at the federal level.
Andrew Luckey is pursuing a double major in Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics. This summer, through the Congressional Agricultural Fellowship, he is working for Congressman Brian Jack (GA-03). He says that his favorite out-of-office experience was either attending the Congressional Baseball Game or visiting the Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. His favorite in-office experience has been meeting people in the agriculture and lobbying sectors from all over the country, rather than just the South.
He remarks that his biggest takeaway has been that there are only two things that are keeping you from being anywhere you want to be in life: who you know and what you know. He emphasized that there is someone somewhere who knows what you want to know, so it's important to meet and develop relationships with everyone you can. He has especially enjoyed the small meetings he has been able to experience, like taking a meeting, escorting visitors, and getting coffee with a staffer, which ensures that there is always someone new to meet. He is grateful to Congressman Jack's office for emphasizing getting agricultural-related meetings and legislation in front of him, allowing him to have a great experience on the Hill.
Anna Clifton is a rising senior pursuing a double major in Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics and is originally from Statesboro, Georgia. After graduating, she hopes to attend law school. This summer she is working in the Office of Senator Jon Ossoff through the Congressional Agricultural Fellowship. Her favorite aspect outside of her internship has been exploring D.C. in the evenings. She has really enjoyed seeing its rich history; visiting museums, galleries, landmarks, and restaurants.
At her internship, she starts her day by reviewing comments, ensuring that they are logged correctly, and batching messages, which is critical to ensuring constituents receive accurate repsonses which respond to their specific inquiry. For the rest of her day, she works on agriculture-related legislative work such as researching legislation, drafting cosponsorship memos, or attending committee meetings. She occassionally leads tours of the Capitol, which has been her favorite task.
Anna explains that the two AAEC courses that have resonated the most are Economics of Food Policy with Dr. Travis Smith and Introduction to Agricultural Policy with Dr. Ford Ramsey. While her team does not work on nutrition legislation, she has heard in deliberations over the budget reconciliation bill and the proposed USDA budget about the changes in SNAP and WIC. She has heard many changes to reference prices and farm safety nets, all topics that they had discussions on as part of the Farm Bill lecture in Agricultural Policy. She also received helpful insights from Natural Resources Law, a course taught through the School of Law which many students within the department take. That course has prepared her to understand and evaluate proposed changes to National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and the EPA's Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.