As we contemplate another year of agriculture production focused on our individual and collective roles as part of the food system, our preparation, planning and planting is heavy on our minds. Will we all win together in this critical profession of agriculture? What are the dependencies we have that will make a difference in our outcomes? These questions have to be part of our thinking. Defining the “win” will likely be difficult and different for each of us, yet we all must work together.
One critical dependency is agriculture public policy. While we finished 2024 without the completion of the Farm Bill that many hoped would have addressed significant public policy issues and modernize aspects of what producers require and provide some level of certainty in the marketplace, all hope is not lost. We get to try again in 2025 to develop sound policy to advance our common mission with a new Farm Bill.
Bob Seger said it best in his 1982 song “Roll Me Away” with his lyric: “Gotta keep rollin’, got to keep ridin’, keep searchin’ till I find what’s right. And as the sunset faded I spoke to the faintest first starlight and said ‘next time we’ll get it right.’” Sooner or later we all come to realize this truth: we are in this together, and together we can get it right. Education and communication are premium attributes to accomplish agriculture togetherness.
There have been some critical gaps in the education and communication which have reached some bubbling points recently. The permitting of animal agriculture operation, the science of anaerobic digesters, understanding the real costs of labor, and environmental policy on water usage has been the centerpiece of this gap, to name a few. This has created a level of uncertainty in how professional agriculture producers may be sustained or grow their farms to serve the needs of consumers. When contemplating these issues, it feels as if agriculture is getting prevented.
Reflecting on where we are and how we got here provokes a diversity of opinions based upon individual experiences, your roll in the agriculture industry or how you view the political discourse. An individual opinion may have at their root a strong and reasoned based view from real life experiences. These opinions could be the start of divisions among agriculture interests and could lead to conflict. The conflict could be unintended, but nonetheless a sticking point. The whole pile of diversity of opinions demands a level of leadership that can balance the topics to land on the best overall outcome.
Educating leading policy makers is crucial toward that overall outcome as a bridge to agriculture togetherness. Standing together with diverse agriculture interests strengthens the mission and will halt the prevention of advancing agriculture. This may be the change that is called for as agriculture practices, and the demands upon farming, change as well. Science and technology advance for agriculture and while farmers may embrace these changes to meet the business challenges, if policy makers do not engage, listen and learn, agricultural will stagnate. The above centerpieces of this gap have demonstratively damaged economic aspects of agriculture. Overcoming these economic damages takes a change in the manner industry engages in educating and communicating. Alternative action would be to accept the decisions of policy makers without engagement.
The GreenStone team does its best to balance its efforts in the education and communication process to preserve and advance the cooperative mission to be the first choice for financial services for its members and the communities we serve as part of the Farm Credit System mandates. It can be tricky at times because of the wide diversity of opinions. However, the focus is always on building agriculture togetherness for the overall win for the industry.
We do this through our voluntary political action committees (PAC) engagements with a regular drumbeat of communication activities. Sometimes we may define a win as making it to next year, and we’re going to make it to next year. That is not enough for long term survival. There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty now with what’s going on, and there certainly is uncertainty with a new administration and new USDA. Now will be the time to rally in our efforts to educate and communicate to provide a better chance than the recent past.
For example, President Trump in his second term has suggested taking a path toward streamlining regulations that have been a burden to farmers and address the immigration issue. While this second term will be just beginning, there does not appear to be any interest in shying away from tough issues. Educating and communicating on these tough issues, including those mentioned above (animal agriculture, anaerobic digestors, labor and water), on both federal and state levels, will be crucial. The PACs that GreenStone has in place are key tools toward advancement.
Participation by all GreenStone supporters will be critical to advance agriculture in this rapidly changing environment in both fields of planting crops and public policy. That would be a win for agriculture. We got to keep rolling.
To view the winter 2025 issue of Partners magazine in its entirety, click here.
