We all know that rural areas of the country make up a small percentage of the representation in Congress. Therefore, it is necessary to have Ag groups get in front of lawmakers to talk about the issues facing agriculture and help them understand how their policies are going to impact farmers. This week, the Iowa Farm Bureau sent about 50 members to Washington to do just that.
Iowa Farm Bureau President Brent Johnson talks about the trip which has them meeting USDA and EPA officials. Johnson runs down some of the topics they will be discussing.
On Monday, Iowa Farm Bureau joined in a letter to President Biden about fertilizer costs. They joined with the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
This ended up getting them a meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Johnson said that it was a good meeting. There will need to be more discussions on this topic to help find relief.
Johnson says that when they head to the EPA, WOTUS will be a big part of their discussions. Johnson urges patience with the EPA as the Supreme Court has yet to rule on a related case.
Having these kinds of meetings is important for agriculture, especially as we are staring down a new Farm Bill next year. Roughly half of the members of Congress that will be involved in this legislation were no members when the last bill was crafted.
You can hear my full discussion with Brent Johnson coming up on this week?s edition of Weekend Ag Matters. Learn more about the efforts of the Iowa Farm Bureau at iowafarmbureau.com.
