American Soybean Association directors from Indiana made their way to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with legislators regarding the Farm Bill.
Shelbyville farmer Phil Ramsey says they’ve been meeting all week with the Indiana Congressional delegation to discuss ASA Farm Bill priorities.
“We talked a lot about the farm safety net for soybeans, which PLC and ARC we need to raise the target price and update our base acres. We had a lot of discussion there trying to explain exactly what that is within the Farm Bill.”
Other priorities include protecting crop insurance, accessibility of conservation programs and maintaining the voluntary, incentive-based approach, building opportunities for biofuels and biobased products, and growing investments in the promotion of U.S. commodities globally.
“Of course, China has been taking a third of our soybeans and we have kind of a rocky relationship now,” Ramsey says. “We need to keep developing new markets around the world.”
The existing Farm Bill is set to expire at the end of September. Ramsey says there’s optimism in D.C. that it could actually be done in a timely manner.
“Well, everybody we talked to seems to be optimistic that it can be done, or at least their goal is that it will be done, before the end of the year. Might not be September, but they think it would be by the calendar year. Speaker McCarthy has expressed that he wants a Farm Bill signed this year.”
Steve Howell, Senior Director of Industry Affairs for the Indiana Soybean Alliance, is in D.C. with Ramsey. He says getting the Farm Bill done on time would be great, but the priority is to obtain good policy for soybean farmers.
“That’s why farmers need to join the Indiana Soybean Alliance as a dues paying member. That’s how this work gets done. That’s how their voice is heard in Washington and in Indianapolis, but we’ve got to carry that member voice out here that we need good policy… We do want it done on time, but we have to have good policy in the Farm Bill.”
Issues outside of the Farm Bill were also discussed with Indiana Congressional members and staff. We’ll have more in the coming days here on Hoosier Ag Today.
