At the 2023 National Association of Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch event in Washington D.C., Farm Director KC Sheperd got the chance to visit with the Chief Economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, Roger Cryan, about Waters of The U.S., 2023 farm bill and more.
“The WOTUS rule that the EPA put out under President Biden is not clear,” Cryan said. “It is very difficult for a farmer to figure out whether or not his or her land is farmable.”
Many are disappointed that the Biden Administration chose to veto the resolution from Congress, Cryan said, when there was certainly a bipartisan majority arguing against the rule.
Regarding the 2023 Farm Bill, Cryan said it is critical that the nutrition programs and farm programs stay together.
“There is a lot of folks on the hill that don’t understand what a farm bill is, except that is provides nutrition programs, it provides SNAP programs, but also because it is important that we provide help for folks who need it,” Cryan said. “We don’t want to see anybody starve in a country that is fortunate as this one is.”
Crop insurance programs are also vital, Cryan said, as they have become the foundation for supporting farmers each year.
“The worst thing we can do is have a farm policy that doesn’t support farmers so they can keep going when they have a bad year,” Cryan said.
With rising consumer and producer price indexes, Cryan said budget adjustments must be made to farm programs.
“We are falling behind on basic agricultural research, and that is undermining productivity growth that we need if we are going to both feed the world and meet our conservation objectives,” Cryan said. “Finally, conservation itself, we want to see programs that are well funded and that provide support in a voluntary market-based way to farmers who provide ecological services to the programs.”
Leadership on both sides of the aisle want to move this next farm bill forward on a bipartisan basis, Cryan said, and there is a lot of good support.
Cryan also talked about farmers’ right to repair their own equipment and said AFBF has been working with companies such as John Deere to allow farmers to do the basic care and maintenance they need on their equipment. “Our folks have done a really good job of negotiating agreements that meet everybody’s needs, and the last thing you want is for somebody to hack the software on a self-driving tractor and have it end up in main street during a school hour,” Cryan said.
