Recently, a group of ag organizations, including the National Farmers Union (NFU), wrote a letter to lawmakers to voice support for the AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act. NFU President Rob Larew said AM radio is too important to rural America for it to be abandoned.
“This is one of these issues that continues to show that whether we’re talking about some cases government but also companies like these auto companies who just kind of discount and kind of overlook rural America and the needs that are there,” Larew said. “AM radio is too important for our news, for local information, for emergency services, to just toss it away. So, we’re happy to be supportive, and we were happy to join a number of rural facing organizations to tell Congress it’s time to pass something to stop these automakers from removing the ability to access am radio.”
Larew said he encourages all listeners of AM radio to reach out to their lawmakers and make their voices heard.
“We can never assume that things are going to continue on this path, right? We have to keep the drumbeat up because certainly we have a number of companies right now that are removing those receivers already. So, we have this gap already happening and that’s just going to continue to grow. So, it is really important for anyone whether they’re Farmers Union members or anyone listening to the farm broadcast, listening to local radio, any of those services across AM radio stations here, this is really important to reach out to your members of Congress to your senators and let them know that you expect them to not only cosponsor the bill, but the push to see it actually move.”
The other organizations signing onto the letter include the Latino Farmers & Ranchers International, Inc., Livestock Marketing Association, National Grange, National Farmers Union, U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, Independent Beef Association of North Dakota, Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas, and the North Dakota Farmers Union.
