A delegation of Iowa farmers is in Washington D.C. for the National Farmers Union Fly-In, underway through tomorrow.
Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Lehman says getting a new Farm Bill through Congress is their first major goal.
“We want to see a Farm Bill taken care of here in the dwindling days of the session,” Lehman says. “We need a strong safety net in place. We need some certainty for our farmers. Negotiations are ongoing but we need to see that work pushed through to a good conclusion.” He says trade disputes on multiple fronts are costing agricultural producers billions.
“Our folks are extremely concerned about the trade situation,” Lehman says. “They want to talk to both administration officials and to members of Congress and let them know how dire the situation is an how we need a long-term solution that’s going to bring some real results to the marketplace.” Lehman says they’ll also be talking to our elected leaders about issues like market concentration in the agribusiness industry.
“And we’ll also be talking with folks about our concerns as a lot of farmers in Iowa are impacted by pesticide drift,” Lehman says. “We want to be sure that’s going to be handled in the right way as well.” Lehman says the best lobbyists for rural America are farmers themselves and that’s why this Fly-In is so important.
(By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton)