Farmers are telling their concerns to top federal lawmakers as members of the U-S House Agriculture Committee, including ranking Democrat Collin Peterson, held a field hearing today at FarmFest in Redwood Falls. The major message from farmers to lawmakers is that times are tough financially for a lot of people in agriculture and having an adequate safety net is really important — whether it’s crop insurance, the Commodity Title programs in the Farm Bill or the Dairy Margin Protection Program. Members of the organic industry asked lawmakers for measures to help increase their market share. There was also discussion of rural broadband and the threat of foreign animal disease, including foot-in-mouth.