Special Report

Latham says ag’s voice diminished in Congress

A longtime Iowa Congressman says agriculture is losing its voice in Congress. Tom Latham served in the House from 1995 to 2014 and says, “In the Senate, every senator has agriculture in their state. But today you have fewer and fewer people that represent ag districts. In Iowa we have at least two districts where you wouldn’t have to know anything – and some don’t – about agriculture.”

Latham says he believes some in Washington are out of touch with agriculture and uses employment statistics at a major ag equipment company as an example. “When they think about agriculture, they’re thinking about how many jobs are going to be lost or gained at John Deere,” Latham says, “The number of farmers obviously are down, but certainly people who know…have any kind of understanding of agriculture is greatly diminished.”

Latham, when asked about what farmers can do about the problem, he said, “Make your voices heard. And this group here can have an enormous impact as far as not just talking to your producers out there because most of those people understand the challenges we have. But to also get that message out to the general public the great job, the unbelievable job that a small number of people do to produce the food and fiber that we need in this country.”

Latham served in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2014. He was part of the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum at the 2015 Commodity Classic in Phoenix.