LINCOLN — Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) members attending their 107th annual state convention in farm homes and offices across the state December 4th using the ZOOM platform heard a keynote presentation from National Farmers Union President Rob Larew.
President Larew reported that thanks to the virtual option he was able to speak to many more state conventions than normal, and the virtual tool could be a positive way to expand Farmers Union participation in events, educate folks, and work on issues on Capitol Hill. He said the 400 participants in the NFU Fall Fly-In were about 100 more than usually participants.
Larew focused on the need to diversify the existing meat processing system and aggressively look for ways to get more effective enforcement of anti-trust laws and Packers and Stockyards enforcement. He stressed the need to create new additional meat processing capacity providing livestock producers with the opportunity to better connect more directly with consumers and higher value markets. He said the need for more meat packing diversity and resilience became very apparent in the early stages of the pandemic when meat processing capacity was slowed or stopped. He said he was well aware of the passion NeFU members have for ag market and meat processing reforms and the need for more competition. He said
President Larew thanked Nebraska Farmers Union members for also focusing their efforts on improving the quality of life and economic opportunities on their neighbors in rural communities and towns. He said whether the issue was access to quality health care, rural broadband, renewable energy, farm immigration issues, rural economic development, or any other issues that impacted rural communities, Farmers Union members cared about the well-being of everyone in the rural neighborhood.
One of the areas Larew noted the incoming Biden Administration community matched up with NFU priorities was the role farmers and ranchers could play in mitigating climate change. Larew said NFU is knows they need to look for ways to increase farm income in the market place because federal direct income supports will decline.
Larew noted that three of the four key House and Senate Ag Committee leaders were going to be new. He said he knew House Ag Committee Chairman Representative David Scott of Georgia well and that as a former House Ag Committee staff. He said Representative Scott was knowledgeable on all of the issues involved in both farm and food policies. Larew said he also knew the new ranking House Ag Committee Minority member Representative Glenn Thompson from Pennsylvania, and he also had a good background of the issues by virtue of his Ag Committee membership. The new Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman will be Senator John Boozman from Arkansas who has a good amount of experience as a member of the Committee and has a very practical approach to issues. Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan will continue on as the Senate Minority Representative leader who NFU has worked closely with for many years. He also noted the upcoming two runoff elections in Georgia will decide which political party is in control of the Senate.
NeFU President Hansen praised NFU President Larew for the excellent job he has done to keep the National Farmers Union (NFU) offices functioning at a high level during the ongoing pandemic this past year. “If you did not know our staff was operating from home remotely, you would not realize it.” Hansen said.
— Nebraska Farmers Union
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