Agricultural News
Oklahoma's Jimmie Musick Offers His Take on the Most Pressing Policy Issues as NAWG's New VP
Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:54:25 CST
Last week during the 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Oklahoma's own Jimmie Musick, a wheat farmer from the Sentinel area, was elected as Vice President of the National Association of Wheat Growers. Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Associate Farm Director Carson Horn caught up with Musick for his take on the current popular issues being discussed in Washington that affect agriculture, specifically the wheat industry. You can listen to Horn and Musick's conversation during the Commodity Classic, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below at the bottom of this story.
"There's concerns about trade and the new Trump administration and how that's going to play out," Musick said. "He's talked about trade a great deal and I really do think that we are going to have a better trade situation we've had in quite some time."
Although he did express his disappointment with Trump's decision to back off the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Musick remains optimistic that the President will manage to negotiate a better trade deal in its place. He hopes the same is true about the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement as well, given Trump's statements that he intends to open NAFTA for renegotiation.
"Makes me very nervous. We're all very concerned about how that's all going to play out and the honest truth is - no one really knows," Musick admitted. "But we're not going to sit back and wait and see what happens."
Musick asserts that the NAWG leadership and staff will actively engage the administration and encourage the US Department of Agriculture to work diligently on crafting sound trade partnerships for the US agriculture industry, while also not disrupting any trade opportunities with Mexico, Canada or anywhere else during that time.
And while trade is a top concern for NAWG, which held its Domestic Trade Policy meeting there at the Commodity Classic behind closed doors, Musick did point out that crop insurance remains the No. 1 priority for the organization as Farm Bill discussions begin.
"We've absolutely got to have crop insurance," Musick said. "It's the difference between being in business or being out of business for a lot of our farmers."
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
