BISMARCK, N.D. — “We need a paradigm shift, not the same old plan,” said NDFU President Mark Watne at the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies’ conference on farm policy and the 2018 Farm Bill held April 12 in Fargo. “We need to change the conversation.”
Watne was one of four panelists who spoke on the commodities and crop insurance titles of the farm bill. Less than half a percent (.28 percent) of the federal budget is spent on farm programs. “I would suggest it’s too low and it’s time to put money back into agriculture,” Watne said.
With prices that fail to cover the cost of production, Watne said farmers’ only tool to cover expenses is increasing yields, which “is a detrimental cycle and effect,” because crop prices are based on the overproduction or oversupply of specific commodities compared to demand. This overproduction causes consolidation in the ag industry.
Watne believes it’s time for the industry to look at the true cost of production and adjust accordingly.
“I’m suggesting there has to be something different,” he said in emphasizing the value of family farm agriculture and the need to reward farmers for low-cost food abundance and the renewable wealth they create for the country with every harvest. “We should not risk playing with our system [of family farm agriculture]… and we can no longer take for granted that food will always be there.”
North Dakota Farmers Union, American Crystal Sugar and the North Dakota Corn Growers Association sponsored the conference that was organized in cooperation with North Dakota’s congressional delegation.
— Pam Musland, NDFU
For more news from North Dakota, click here.