Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain is causing quite a bit of concern among members of the agriculture and ethanol industries with his comments about farm programs and ethanol incentives. Last week in Missouri, McCain said, “My administration will reduce the price of food by eliminating the subsidies for ethanol and agricultural goods. These subsidies inflate the price of food, not only for Americans but for people in poverty across the world, and I propose to abolish them.”

During a question and answer period yesterday at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers AgExecutive Forum, I had the opportunity to ask Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer what he would say to Senator McCain about farm policy if he had the opportunity.

“What I would say to Senator McCain is this: ‘You’re flat out wrong about your agriculture policy,'” Schafer said bluntly, while noting that he needs to be careful what he says in the political arena. “I would say that both candidates leave a lot on the table to be desired for agricultural policy. I’d love to have the opportunity to get in there and say ‘this is the importance of agriculture in this economy’ and I don’t think either one of them are seeing it.”

Schafer hopes that Senator McCain gets some advisers who can help him see that “agriculture is the foundation of the economy and the strength of this country.”

Listen to Schafer’s comments here:
schafer-mccain.mp3

You can also download his comments with this link: Ed Schafer on McCain ag policy (mp3)

Download photos of Schafer and others from the AEM AgExecutive Forum here.