The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the American Soybean Association (ASA) held press conferences during the 2016 Commodity Classic to discuss several key issues facing the industry and highlight the efforts currently in place to create solutions to the challenges that have been facing growers.
Representatives from NCGA focused their press conference around the current state of the farm economy, which has recently seen its greatest decline in the past 100 years. The panel discussed their current efforts to help growers through the increasingly tough market by ensuring that a market-based safety net is in place, and also highlighted their commitment to increase profitable demand for corn.
Listen to the full press conference here:
NCGA Press Conference at Commodity Classic
ASA discussed several major pieces of legislation that greatly impact agriculture, with a focus placed on their support for recent draft legislation introduced by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan) that would establish a standardized federal food labeling law, and would abolish the mandatory GMO labeling law set to take place in Vermont beginning July 1st.
ASA explained the absolute necessity of direct farmer involvement in order to get the federal labeling law passed, calling on industry professionals to ensure that the voice of agriculture is heard above the voice of consumer activism in Congress.
“This is the tipping point for biotechnology in the agriculture sector,” said ASA Chairman Wade Cowan in the conference. “If we are not successful now in communicating what the food makers in this country need to the lawmakers on Capitol Hill, we are doomed to be without biotechnology and not be able to farm as efficiently and sustainably as we could with these technologies. A few thousand people isn’t going to do this, we need so much more involvement than that. It’s time to Rock the Hill.”
Listen to the full press conference here: ASA Press Conference at Commodity Classic
2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album
