PERRYSVILLE, Ind. — Questions about the 2018 farm bill, tax reform and the situation in Washington, D.C., drew a standing room-only crowd to a presentation by Chuck Conner, CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, during Ceres Solutions’ 2017 Knowledge Event near Perrysville on August 23.

 

The good news, according to Conner, is that the farm bill effort is spearheaded by a “Dream Team” of politicians with strong ties to agriculture. The bad news? Money and resources for the bill are difficult to come by.

“(The federal government) spends less on the farm bill now than they did in the (19)80s. That’s not the case with any other federal program,” he said. “Many farmers are hurting today and shouldn’t be shy or feel embarrassed about asking for a good farm bill.”

Conner, a Benton County native and acting secretary of agriculture under former President George W. Bush, noted that lower commodity prices have changed the outlook dramatically in the past 18 months, and farmers are now calling for raised target prices and stronger focus on crop insurance.

Although the last farm bill took 2.5 years past the deadline to pass, he doesn’t think that will be the case with the 2018 bill.

“At the time of the former farm bill, farmers were prosperous and the delay probably didn’t have a lot of impact. That’s not the case today. Farmers need a good bill, done right, done on time.”

The 2018 farm bill is not the only piece of legislation that could potentially impact the agricultural sector in the near future. Tax reform, immigration and trade deals are all priorities for President Donald Trump. Conner said tax reform is a popular idea in the Republican-led Congress, and may be Trump’s only chance to avoid suffering major Congressional losses in the 2018 mid-term election and getting himself reelected in 2020.

“Tax reform could mean a reduction or elimination of estate taxes, and lower individual rates. That’s a big deal for agriculture,” he added.

Trump’s quest to renegotiate trade deals to bolster the domestic manufacturing industry could also have a major effect on agriculture, which is dependent on exports.

 

Farmers have benefited from the trade deals that Trump wants to change,” Conner said. “The $10,000 question is if he’ll be able to negotiate better trade deals for ag exports that are still good for manufacturing.”

He criticized Trump for struggling to make the transition from presidential candidate to president and said he has yet to build a loyal team in the White House. By the same token, he praised Trump for being aggressive in rolling back “onerous regulations,” such as overtime rules, which negatively impact farmers.

He also hailed last year’s overturning of some states’ labeling requirements for genetically modified food products as a “major legislative victory.”

In addition to the update from D.C. veteran Conner, the Knowledge Event featured PARP sessions on corn and soybean management, weed control, sustainable farming, spray application and biologicals. “We have agronomists here who will be talking about dicamba,” said Laurel Mann, resource development manager for Ceres Solutions. “Dicamba is on everyone’s minds right now.”

More than 30 vendors and 600 people showed up for the event, making it the biggest to date. “People are interested in knowing what’s coming in agriculture,” Mann said. “We hope that they’re coming for the information and the fellowship, and to meet with their local co-op team.”

Gale Ingalsbe, a crop grower and livestock farmer from Wingate, said he tries to come to the Knowledge Event every year. “I like to see the new products that they’ve come out with, and the field plots,” he explained, adding the harvest and price of grain is what’s weighing on his mind right now.