News

Minnesota farm groups tell Senator ag is in crisis

A U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Ag Committee was recently struck by the seriousness of challenges facing agriculture.

Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith says she met with a cross-section of state commodity groups last week to get a better sense of what’s going on in farm country.

“I asked at one point in the meeting (if) crisis is the right word to use for the situation that we’re in, and pretty much everybody nodded their heads. And that gives me an even greater sense of urgency as I go back to Washington to try and help in the ways we can help.”

She tells Brownfield there are several ways Congress can assist farmers navigating through this difficult time.

“One thing that I am going to focus on is how to make sure that whatever this trade aid package is that’s coming together, that it works fairly for everyone and not unfairly benefits some parts of the country versus other parts depending on what your basis is.”

Smith is also advocating for moving the harvest date on prevent plant acres from November first to September first.  Agri-Pulse reports USDA will be announcing that change as early as today.