Well, here we are in October, and we still don’t have a new farm bill, but that’s not for lack of effort from the U.S. agricultural industry.
Last month, myself and WAWG past presidents, Andy Juris and Nicole Berg, flew into Washington, D.C., to take part in a National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) farm bill fly-in. It just so happened that we are all Horse Heaven Hills farmers, but we were representing all Eastern Washington wheat growers. Additionally, Nicole is a NAWG past president and works closely with House Ag Committee Chair, GT Thompson, so we had some serious experience on our team.
The message we gave to Congress was that we don’t want to extend the 2018 Farm Bill any longer. We need a new farm bill, one that reflects the cost of farming in today’s economy. When the 2018 Farm Bill was passed, the environment farmers faced was much different than today’s. We are advocating for strong crop insurance programs that remain affordable, strengthening safety net programs by increasing reference prices, and increasing funding for market promotion programs, such as the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program. As a trade-heavy state, Washington growers rely on access to foreign markets.
Other commodities were in D.C. to help wheat push the farm bill, including corn, soybeans, peanuts, sorghum, cotton, and Farm Credit. It was great to visit with our senators and representatives. I think our small team of Washington wheat leaders did a fabulous job, and I want to thank the NAWG team for working tirelessly to set up the multicommodity and industry meetings with Congress. In one week, I learned more about the peanut industry than I have in my whole life. I really got to see that all these growers from different crops face many of the same challenges wheat farmers do. See more on our farm bill fly-in on page 14.
Speaking of coming together, the Tri-State Grain Growers Convention is fast approaching, Nov. 19-21. Please join us in Coeur d’Alene and make this a successful convention. It’s a chance to take a break from fieldwork, socialize with other growers, and learn more about the small grains industry. Every year, Washington holds an all-committee meeting where we review our resolutions and update them. The resolutions help direct WAWG’s activities and guide the association’s efforts. We need growers to attend the all-committee meeting and let leadership know what your concerns and issues are for the next year.
Learn more about what’s on tap for the convention on page 28. If you need any assistance with getting registered, please call our office at (509) 659-0610. If you haven’t been to convention before, plan on going. You’ll enjoy it!
