As the president’s Magical Midwestern Tour rolled on, some of his comments about agriculture were getting negative reviews.
Suggestions by President Obama in Atkinson, Illinois Wednesday that farmers who are concerned about more government regulations should just “contact USDA” about it got particular attention.
The best of all came from Politico reporter MJ Lee, who decided to take the advice of the POTUS and try and contact USDA himself to get an answer to the question posed to Obama about the impact of pending regulations regarding noise, dust and water runoff on farming operations. After more than ten different phone conversations with various people on the state and national level, the reporter finally ended the quest with the response received from USDA’s main media relations department, via email:
“Secretary Vilsack continues to work closely with members of the Cabinet to help them engage with the agricultural community to ensure that we are separating fact from fiction on regulations because the administration is committed to providing greater certainty for farmers and ranchers. Because the question that was posed did not fall within USDA jurisdiction, it does not provide a fair representation of USDA’s robust efforts to get the right information to our producers throughout the country.”
The USDA Radio Newsline features a story from our friend Gary Crawford in an attempt to clarify the president’s remarks. “The president’s response was right on target,” said Vilsack. “We’ll continue at USDA to work with EPA so that they understand fully and completely the impact that proposed regulations may have on agriculture.” Listen to Gary’s report here: Gary Crawford, USDA Radio
The POTUS was challenged more directly about regulations at his last stop on the tour in Alpha, Illinois by the POTIFB – president of the Illinois Farm Bureau Philip Nelson. “And I guess my challenge, Mr. President, is that you work with the EPA Administrator to put some common sense back into some of these regulatory discussions so we don’t regulate farmers out of business,” Nelson said.
The president’s response in Alpha was similarly dismissive, although he left out the advice to call the USDA. “Some of these regulatory concerns that people have, frankly, are unfounded in the sense that if somebody even has an idea or a thought about some regulation, then right away the message is sent out, they’re coming and they’re going to make it impossible for you to farm and this and that and the other,” he said.
Obama continued the same message in an interview with National Association of Farm Broadcasting President (POTNAFB) Tom Steever of Brownfield Ag News. “A lot of times folks will get geared up before a regulation’s even been proposed because there’s a rumor that there might be some regulation out there,” said Obama, adding that he wants “specifics” and not just “general accusations that the EPA’s coming after agriculture.” Listen to Tom’s question about EPA regulations and Obama’s answer here: Tom Steever and President Obama
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Immediate Past President (POTNCBA) Steve Foglesong said the president “is out of touch with rural America” and that he “has no clue what regulations his bureaucratic agencies are proposing or he simply doesn’t care.”
And, as the Politico reporter points out, still no real answer to the farmer’s question.
The National Agri-Marketing Association held its annual 
The president got a couple of serious questions about agriculture during the meeting, starting with the very first one from a local corn and soybean grower, who was applauded by the crowd for telling Obama not to challenge the nation’s food producers with more rules and regulations. “We would prefer to start our day in a tractor cab or combine cab rather than filling out forms and permits to do what we’d like to do,” he told the president, noting particular concern about regulations regarding dust and water runoff. 
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“This is by far our largest tour ever,” said tour chairman Larry Clemens of The Nature Conservancy. “I think that as CTIC we’re learning that our tours are enjoyable for people, they’re gaining in reputation, and we’re going to have to make some adjustments on how to handle over 200 people in the future.” Despite the very large group, the tour went smoothly, on time and without a hitch. Next year’s tour is slated to be in the Mississippi Delta region.
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