It was a unique moment in farm policy history this past week as farmers and ranchers descended upon Capitol Hill with a single message- the time for patronizing the farm community is past- and we need a new farm bill that has an adequate, updated federal farm safety net now. Tom Sell with Combest, Sell and Associates was one of the organizers of bringing in hundreds of farmers to Washington from a variety of commodity groups with that message. Add to that doing their own thing but with that same message was the American Farm Bureau, National Farmers Union and the National Pork Producers Council. Read and Listen to our coverage of the NFU fly in with KC Sheperd and Scott Blubaugh by clicking here
Sell works with several commodity groups, helping represent them inside the Beltway, but one that he and Larry Combest have a special affinity for is the Southwest Council for Agribusiness- which brings together producers with main street business in Texas, Oklahoma, Southwest Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. Sell tells Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays that this organization has brought together the farm and ranch community with companies and groups that depend on their well being to thrive. He says “If the farmers aren’t doing well- that has an expanded impact on the entire rural economy, So, these businesses saw the importance of standing up along side these farm groups. And, it brings a really nice coalitional effort to the table saying that farm policy is not just transferring dollars to farmers but it’s about the broader farm economy- it’s about national security, American culture, Entrepreneurial culture in our economy in the rural areas.”
Listen to Hays and Tom Sell by clicking on this button below:
Sell was excited to see multiple commodity groups bring their members to Washington, who along with bankers and others in the agribusiness community, explained the dire situation that faces American agriculture here as clock counts down on 2024.
Sell adds that it’s no longer a smart thing to be kicking the farm bill can further down the road as has been happening for two years- it’s time to get it done. And he adds that another extension is not the right answer.
Hays and Sell talked about the message given to lawmakers and their staffs and he explained that he believes that there is a window of opportunity to craft a 2024 Farm Bill this fall or perhaps in the lame duck session. He believes “that when they see the need(Congressional Leaders), they can do the work quickly. There’s a of language that has to be worked through- but they have a really good starting place that G.T. Thompson has put together- and they put it all together quickly. Obviously, this is not going to be a traditional process- it’s not going to get House floor time or Senate floor time- there just are not enough days left for that but there is a window to hitch a ride on some of the bigger end of year packages that are running this fall or in the lame duck session- this has happened before- it can happen again and we need to make it happen.”
Below is a letter sent by the Southwest Council for Agribusiness to Congressional leadership about the need for a 2024 Farm Bill ASAP.
