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A bipartisan group of former leaders of America’s major agricultural commodity organizations and biofuels organizations, farmer leaders, and former USDA officials issued a stark warning to Congress and the Trump administration. In a letter, they outlined the deteriorating state of the farm economy, calling current conditions a potential “widespread collapse of American agriculture.”
The letter was signed by Harold Wolle, former NCGA President, Bob Dineen, the past president of the Renewable Fuels Association, Jim Mulhern, the former President of the National Milk Producers Federation, and many others. The letter proposes many solutions, including immediately exempting all farm inputs from tariffs and repealing tariffs that are disrupting agricultural export markets.
Other solutions include passing year-round E15 legislation, a new farm bill, and encouraging the administration to quickly complete a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. They’re also asking for Trade Promotion Authority for the administration and new farm labor reform.
Farmer sentiment weakened sharply in January as the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer dropped from 136 in December to 113 in January. The Current Conditions Index dropped 19 points while the Future Expectations Index dipped 25 points. One-half of the producers surveyed reported that their farm operations were worse off than a year ago.
NAFB news service
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