By this point, we are all exhausted by the endless rhetoric about America being a divided nation – a country of haves and have-nots. But, we think it’s important right now to explore this concept of division a little further. We’re not talking about partisan sniping. We’re talking about moisture and weather.
Selling more U.S. farm product overseas is the most important issue for farmers this time around – outranking even the war on terror, deficit reduction and healthcare. Not far behind on the list was passing the new Farm Bill, which was more important to farm voters than rural job creation, infrastructure improvements, immigration and lowering taxes.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump and his trade team announced a modernized trade pact with Mexico and Canada, and most of agriculture cheered. But it was a comment about another country during the White House press conference that really caught our attention. India is “the tariff king,” the President said. “India charges tariffs of 100 percent … that’s not free trade.”
America’s struggling farm economy is heading for even bigger declines, according to recent surveys, and the nation’s top bankers say manufacturers should expect a major drop in sales of new equipment. Inflation-adjusted net farm income, which is a broad measure of profits, is expected to be down by $11.4 billion, or nearly 15 percent, this year compared to 2017, according to USDA’s August Farm Income Forecast.
As the 2018 Farm Bill debate plays out in Congress, farmers across the nation are getting in front of the camera to tell their stories with the hopes that lawmakers will understand just how important a strong farm policy is to rural America.
August is typically a down time in DC, but that has not been the case this year. Among other things, lots of work was being done on the Farm Bill.
Summer is just about over, and Labor Day on the horizon signals that harvest is near. That means, it’s time to go to work. Farmers are watching Washington, D.C. as lawmakers return to finish some important Farm Bill business.
Following a relatively smooth markup in the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Farm Bill now moves to the Senate floor for consideration, and congressional leaders intend to have debate wrapped up before Independence Day.
When the Senate overwhelmingly passed its Farm Bill – just days after the House did the same – applause from the agricultural community was swift and loud. The bill, once reconciled in conference, will provide some economic certainty and help mitigate farm risk.
When Congressmen Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced an amendment to the Farm Bill in 2007 that would have gutted U.S. farm policy and put American jobs at risk, the outcry from the agricultural community was swift and fierce. A campaign backed by farmers quickly labeled their plan “Kinda Flakey” and highlighted the disastrous effects it would have on commodities and rural communities from coast to coast.
It’s been a lively Farm Bill season, with a slew of anti-farmer amendments going down in flames. But one of farm policy’s most vocal opponents has been conspicuously quiet…until now. The Environmental Working Group came roaring back this week with a new “study” that – true to form – breaks no new ground and is largely a recycling of old irrelevant data.
Prices and farm incomes are in the tank. Ongoing international trade talks are affecting overseas markets. Congress is debating a Farm Bill that will determine growers’ ability to mitigate risk. Mother Nature is wreaking havoc across the country – with farmers in the Great Plains facing drought and southern growers getting pounded by rain.