AFR President Scott Blubaugh recently returned from the organization’s annual fly-in to Washington, D.C., where he and 17 members delivered a unified message to Congress and the administration. Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with Blubaugh after he got back to talk about his trip, “It is the ag economy, it is the ag economy, it is the ag economy,” to address the agricultural economy crisis.
The Current State of the Agricultural Economy
Blubaugh reported a stark contrast in economic conditions across different sectors of Oklahoma agriculture. He noted that “our cow calf guys are doing very, very well for a change,” finally able to pay off old debts. However, for grain and cotton farmers, it’s the opposite. They are “losing money hand over fist with rising production costs and at the very same time, a collapse in our export markets”.
According to Blubaugh, the cash markets have been “devastated” because major buyers, like China, have backed away from purchases. This has left a significant amount of grain in storage from the past two years, with nowhere to put the fall harvest. As a result, farmers are “upside down in every one of these commodities by a long way” and need immediate assistance.
Proposed Solutions and Political Challenges
Blubaugh stated that both Congress and the White House “know we have a big problem, and they’re willing to do something in order to try to fix it.” To address the immediate crisis, AFR recommended that the President invoke the CCC (Commodity Credit Corporation) program to provide “bridge payments or market facilitation payments” to help make up for the deficit.
The challenge is a lack of available funds. The previous bill that provided funding was not enough, leaving farmers with only “about 32 cents on the dollar”. While the CCC program is refilled annually in October, getting the government to pass a continuing resolution or funding bill is currently in question. Blubaugh said that most likely, “it’ll be November, December, before that could be accomplished,” because Congress is “so polarized” and “dysfunctional”.
Short-Term Fix, Long-Term Dilemma
Blubaugh believes the will is there to get some relief for farmers, but he calls any immediate assistance a “one-year fix” and a “band-aid approach”. He stressed that a long-term solution is still needed. “We’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do with all this excess grain,” he said. “We don’t know how long the American farmers can be held hostage here.”
Despite the political hurdles, Blubaugh is optimistic that the message was “well received” by all parties, who “acknowledge that we’ve got a problem”. AFR is hopeful that a new Farm Bill will also be bundled into the larger funding package.
