Agricultural News
AFR President Looks Forward to Farm Bill Passage and 2014 Legislative Agenda
Mon, 16 Dec 2013 21:13:59 CST
As 2013 draws to a close, it's time to take stock of the year gone by and look ahead to the future. Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays spoke with Terry Detrick, president of American Farmers and Ranchers at the 2013 Tulsa Farm Show about the slowly evolving farm bill and more. Members of the House and Senate conference committee are still trying to work out their differences and news out of Washington is that work will spill over into next month. Detrick praised the continuing efforts of House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas for his tenacity and continuing efforts to get the bill finished.
"He had public perception against him. He had the budget against him. And he had leadership in the House that had never been supportive much of farm bills and so he has really just worked it out for them. He has really just done a yeoman's job in getting bipartisan support among his committee- So, as we go forward, hopefully we'll get a farm bill in a month or so."
Detrick said a farm bill extension passed last week will allow lawmakers to continue their work on the new bill without reverting to the 1949 law. He said his group and others are intent on keeping the 1949 law permanent because the threat of reversion to it seems to be the only thing keeping Congress moving forward with new farm legislation.
Closer to home, Detrick said crop yields surprised a lot of people this year, but with high input costs especially in corn producing states, a lot of farmers will not break even as market prices continue to slide. He said that, ultimately, will have an effect on producers in Oklahoma.
"Corn is king. As corn goes, so goes all the other commodities, especially wheat. So, I think there's a lot of uncertainty regarding 2014."
The prospect for cattle producers in the new year, however, is very positive, he said. Timely rains and good forage production in many parts of the state last spring and summer have favored cattlemen and the expansion of the nation's cattle herd going into the winter.
"I marvel at the flexibility that we have in ag production in Oklahoma. We have such potential for beef production, pork production now, poultry production. Our exports around the world are improving as other countries, that are developing countries, as their incomes increase the first thing they want to do is buy protein- So, we're selling more meat and yet we've got a shortage of breeding stock here in the United States."
American Farmers and Ranchers is entering the policy-setting phase of the year prior to their annual convention in February. Detrick says he imagines his organization's members are going to be in "watchdog" mode on a lot of issues this year.
"We're going to see an inclination to attach more fees and we're watching what are these fees because these are the things that other people pass on, but the farmer pays it all. They don't have anybody to pass it on to so we're really concerned about that."
Detrick said his members are also concerned with the push to eliminate the sales tax in Oklahoma. If that happens, he said, the money will have to come from somewhere and that would most likely be from increased property taxes.
He also said another perennial issue of interest to his membership is water. He said AFR has been opposed in the past to selling water to Texas and he believes that opposition will continue as the membership irons out its policies in the coming month.
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