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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, May 05, 2024
This week's guest on Open Mic is Sterling Liddell, Senior Vice President for Rabo AgriFinance and Rabobank International in its Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory group. Discussion on a new farm bill has begun across the country and in Washington with calls to get an early start on new policy. Some analysts believe the nation is on the verge of another farm crisis. In this interview, Sterling Liddell offers evidence of financial stress he sees growing on crop farms and highlights factors indicating a significant paradigm shift he believes farmers will have to traverse to survive the economic downturn. Liddell believes the Conservation Reserve Program needs to be revised to help manage crop acres and reduce land costs on marginal acres.
This week's guest on Open Mic is John Weber, President of the National Pork Producers Council. Congressional decisions on trade and market direction in the next 60 days will set the course for the future of the U.S. swine industry. Weber, an Iowa pork producer, explains how market access to the participating countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is critical to the profitability of the nation's hog farmers. Weber also discusses the impact of domestic and global consolidation in the swine industry. And, with discussion beginning on a the next farm bill, Weber points to his association's top priorities for the new language including disease management and producer risk protection.
This week's guest on Open Mic is U.S. Representative Steve King. Fresh from a five week tour of the fourth district, King identifies the top concern among farmers and business leaders alike. King is keeping a watchful eye for debate on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and says despite mounting congressional opposition, the U.S. should not give up on the ideals of the global accord even if negotiations must take other forms. The Iowa Republican shares his view of expanded trade with Cuba and a conservative view of revamping the nation's immigration policy. King believes the cyclical swing in farm income may bring increased participation and views in writing a new farm bill.
This week's guest on Open Mic is Dan Oh, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Renewable Energy Group. In this week's interview, learn how an Iowa cooperative expanded its quest to grow the value of soybean oil into a business with a global presence of producing not only renewable fuel, but renewable chemicals, as well as, a host of other products. Oh supports the nation's renewable energy policy but says the industry deserves a more routine, regular effort in decision making. This informative program focuses on a discussion on the value of RIN credits, the advantage of producer tax credits, crude oil prices and the new frontier of renewable chemicals.
This week's guest on Open Mic is Leif Magnusson, President of CLAAS Global Sales Americas and the 2016 Chair of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. This interview includes the status of an industry bearing the burden of a significant fall in US net farm income and the equipment manufacturers' perspective on global trade agreements. AEM supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and Magnusson shares possible consequences of a failure to ratify the trade pact. Magnusson addresses the crucial connections between the need to develop rural infrastructure, maintaining manufacturing jobs in the country and keeping US agriculture competitive.
This week's guest on Open Mic is U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. In this interview, Secretary Vilsack discusses the current cyclical swing in farm income and the policy decision Washington must consider to protect the nation's farms and ranches. Vilsack says congressional leaders must consider "need" over budget when considering the next farm bill. While the Trans-Pacific Partnership remains a priority for the Obama administration, Vilsack discusses options to secure congressional support for the deal and defines the ominous challenge of writing regulations to implement the nation's biotech disclosure law.
