The topic of the St. Louis Agribusiness Club lunch was “Policy Outlook for Agriculture as the Political Dynamics Begin to Change.” I think the political dynamics have already changed don’t you?

Giving us his take on this was Thomas J. Erickson, Vice President, Government Affairs, Bunge North America. He says that since the incoming administration seems to have a lot of public support it will be interesting to see how elected leaders and others interact with it. So developing relationships will be a big part of the initial activity we’ll see. He’s also looking to the upcoming USDA Planting Intentions Report to provide an important signal about American agriculture that will be looked at very closely in Washington.

I wonder when our first interaction with the new administration will be. I sent an email to the transition team last week suggesting that they convert the presidential limo to run on ethanol but haven’t heard anything back on that yet.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: slac-erickson.mp3