Brownlee provides insight into Congressional testimony

Liz Otte Brownlee ’09 returned to campus September 30th to discuss her experience testifying before a congressional subcommittee. “A Sustainable Farmer Goes to Washington,” provided an inside look at her June 5 testimony before the House Agriculture Committee’s subcommittee on biotechnology, horticulture and research.

Brownlee addressed a proposed relocation of the USDA’s Economic Research Service and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture to the Midwest.

Acting as a representative of the National Young Farmers Coalition, Brownlee argued that farmers need these offices near policy makers, since their research specifically informs farm policy and does not specifically serve farmers. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had previously stated that moving the entities would put them closer to the farmers who use their research and programs.

Brownlee serves as president of the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition, a group of beginning farmers and allies who work to connect young farmers in Indiana, and works as executive director of Oak Heritage Conservancy. She and her husband, Nate Brownlee ’06, launched Nightfall Farm in Crothersville, Ind., in 2014. The couple raises livestock and works on food system issues, including how to connect people with their food, build farmers markets and keep more money in rural communities.