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As your constituent who cares about farm animal welfare and building a more humane food system, I urge you to cosponsor the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act (H.R. 9794/S. 5176). Factory farming is cruel to animals, harms our climate and poisons rural communities. Through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress committed billions of dollars to agricultural conservation initiatives aimed at combating climate change. It is critical that this influx of funding is invested in meaningful changes with proven environmental benefits. Yet, IRA funding is currently being used to prop up the existing disastrous factory farming system. This problematic system has been pushed upon rural America by the handful of multinational corporations that dominate our agriculture industry and are cutting corners to maximize profits, polluting our air and water, and exploiting farmers and animals alike. Many contract farmers feel trapped in this system and are looking for a way out. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act (IACA) would help farmers get out from under their control. This bill would empower farmers to transform our agriculture system by using conservation funds to convert factory farms into more sustainable operations that allow people, animals, and the planet to thrive. The IACA would create a new grant program within existing climate-smart conservation spending, dedicated to supporting farmers who want to transition away from the factory farm model. This program would fund new infrastructure and on-farm improvements to facilitate a transition to either pasture-based animal agriculture or crop production. For instance, it could fund construction of fencing and water lines to raise animals on pasture, or the purchase of seeds and planting structures for growing crops. It would also protect farmers who apply for grant funding from retaliation by the factory farm monopoly from which they are escaping. By passing the IACA, we can promote practices that are more humane for the 10 billion animals raised for food each year in the U.S., as well as better for farmers and healthier for people and the environment. I hope you’ll support this important legislation. Thank you for your consideration.