INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Three of Indiana’s 2016 U.S. Senate candidates talked agriculture at Monday’s Indiana Ag Policy Summit, answering questions about topics such as EPA regulations, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), trade with Cuba and other trade authority, higher education and crop insurance, in light of the summer’s heavy rains.

“It’s incredibly important today for farming and ranching to be involved in the political process,” said Jane Ade Stevens, CEO of Indiana Soy/Corn. “Farmers have a new business partner now, and it’s called local, state and federal governments – and even international, for that matter.”

In turn, the candidates – U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman, a Republican from Indiana’s Third District; former state GOP chair Eric Holcomb; and former Indiana U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, a Democrat – each answered similar questions from moderator Tyne Morgan of “U.S. Farm Report,” about hot topics in farming.

Monday morning also saw the reopening of a Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., for the first time in more than a half-century. Stutzman said of normalizing relations with Cuba, “I would like to send corn and soybeans into Cuba, and I would like to get rid of the Castro brothers.”

He explained his concern about trade with Cuba is in reports of religious persecution there and a fear of “funding the regime” with trade, but he is agreeable with seeing individuals and businesses there engage in trade with the United States.

Holcomb too is concerned about human rights violations in Cuba, comparing it to North Korea. He thinks Cuba is getting many advantages in the U.S. normalizing trade, for those in charge not having changed their behavior in decades, and went so far as to say he thinks President Barack Obama went outside the law in these negotiations.

Hill, who said he thought the U.S. severing relations with Cuba was a mistake, sees great opportunity for trade. He said the U.S. deals with Russia and China regularly, as well as other governments with which it does not agree. “Cuba, of course, doesn’t have nearly the strength of the Chinese or the Russians,” he said, adding he believes money can correct a lot of inequities – and when Cuba becomes more dependent on trade with us, that things will have to change there.

All three voiced support for the RFS. Both Stutzman and Holcomb said the mandate numbers originally established for renewable fuel levels should not be dropped by EPA. “It’s better to keep those numbers where they’re at, so that when we plan, we can plan accordingly,” said Stutzman.

In Congress, Hill said he was a strong advocate for the RFS though others on the political left have not been. Lately, he pointed out more conservatives are questioning it as well, and thinks farmers should not depend on the program for the long-term.

They need to know political winds are changing, he explained – and while he would like to see federal tax credits to incentivize renewable energy, he doesn’t want to favor a particular type right now.

Renewable fuel exports are up recently, Hill said, and he encourages trade policies that continue that “upward movement.”

Of the recent vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and Transpacific Partnership (TPP) discussion, he said, “It’s always compromise. That’s the nature of these trade agreements … And that includes the United States (compromising).”

Stutzman is mostly satisfied with TPA as Congress passed it, and noted Southeast Asia and Japan are huge markets for U.S. agricultural exports, in considering the TPP.

Maintaining federal crop insurance is something all three want to see if Congress examines changes in the 2014 farm bill.

Holcomb said this year’s weather and potential crop losses are “proof-positive” federal crop insurance is beneficial, adding it “is proving its worth so far, by and large.”

As for keeping nutrition programs in the farm bill with insurance and other direct funding for agriculture – as opposed to splitting the two into separate legislation – he thinks they need to be kept together. He sees it as necessary to build a consensus between urban and rural lawmakers to continue funding for agricultural programs.

Hill agreed about keeping them together, and thinks the USDA has administered its programs well: “If it’s not broke, why fix it?” he asked.

Stutzman disagreed, saying he sees fraud in the nutrition programs and would like the two separated.

“I felt like the farm bill was being hijacked for something else” last year, he said … “(that) they were using the farmers’ good name to fund a welfare program.”

There has been much in the news about agriculture needing more young people in related jobs, as well as about the cost of higher education and student debt. Hill said something needs to be in place to forgive student loan debt – this and lower interest rates is a simple thing the federal government could change (but maintain, he said, because it brings in a lot of money).

He may also favor dismissal of loan payments in exchange for some sort of public civic service from students, he said.

Both Stutzman and Holcomb said this should be a states’ issue, believing state government is better positioned than federal to control cost caps at universities and other institutions. The institutions’ leadership could help too – both said they will be interested to see what Purdue University President Mitch Daniels (a former GOP governor) does to cap or lower the cost of a degree.