A corn grower leader from Minnesota told the House Agriculture Committee today that farmers in her state and across the country need the support of a reauthorized and strengthened farm bill. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and state corn-affiliated associations are continuing to push for an improved farm bill this year.
“Unless conditions change, I believe we’re heading into a perfect storm, a storm that I don’t think will be fully appreciated until early next year when farmers try to get loans but are unable to do so because they cannot demonstrate the ability to cash flow,” Minnesota Corn Growers President Dana Allen-Tully, Ph.D., told the committee as she testified about the state of the agricultural economy.
While farmers can feed and fuel the economy, she said, they need a strong farm bill that will assist when the chips are down.
“We have to have policies in place that reflect the realities of farming today,” Allen-Tully said. The stakes of farming are so incredibly high – higher than I ever remember them to be. We are putting everything we have on the line every single year for very thin and oftentimes negative margins.”
Both Allen-Tully and National Corn Growers Association President Harold Wolle have published op-eds in recent weeks highlighting corn growers’ priorities and calling for action on the farm bill.
“The farm bill is so important to growers on every front,” Wolle wrote in a recent op-ed. “USDA programs are particularly crucial to open and cultivate foreign markets and for a safety net for farmers during hard economic times.”
Last week, NCGA took over 200 corn growers to Capitol Hill to push for action on the farm bill. While the House Agriculture Committee has marked up its version of the legislation, the Senate committee and both chambers need to come together to pass the bill into law.