From the very beginning of Landus, we’ve been honored to act on behalf of our farmers, both with our own presence with lawmakers, as well as collaborating with a variety of critical industry organizations and associations that help unify our voice and bolster our impact. I had the privilege to represent Landus at the National Council for Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) annual meeting last week.
The NCFC has been around since 1929, and is compiled of nearly 1,700 local farmer cooperatives across the country. Collectively, cooperatives provide over 300,000 jobs, have nearly 1.9 million farmer members, and represent $203 billion in total annual sales each year.
As a member of NCFC, Landus farmers have a stronger voice in the critical issues that NCFC is tackling. Those key topics include: Ag Labor; Climate, Conservation & Environment; Credit & Rural Development; Farm Policy & Risk Management; Food & Nutrition; Legal, Tax & Accounting; Trade & Market Access; and Transportation & Infrastructure. As a member of Landus, and therefore by proxy a member of NCFC, you’re ensuring that you’ll have a seat at the table during policy discussions on these topics. During the most recent NCFC Annual Meeting, experts who work in each of these topics presented updates regarding these policies. Below is a recap of some of those items of interest.
Political Landscape:
- Social media has changed politics in recent years and looking ahead it’s likely that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a larger role. It’s important that we begin to understand AI, both as a tool but also the challenges it presents.
- Tightest margins in political history in both chambers of Congress.
- We broke the record for the oldest presidential candidates on the ballot in 2020, and we are likely to break the record again in 2024… with the same individuals.
Farm Bill:
- The House saw a 40% turnover in new members in the past 5 years. This means a significant amount of Congress has never debated or voted on a Farm Bill before.
- We are already operating on a one-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, with September 30th deadline looming. We anticipate the much needed pen/paper/votes in place by May in order to see a bill this year, which is looking less and less likely.
- There isn’t a significant outcry being felt in D.C. to act, so the sense of urgency to get something done this year is waning.
- The fiscal baseline (i.e. anticipated cost) of the last Farm Bill was $800 billion, but the next bill (assuming programs stay the same) is estimated to cost nearly double, $1.4 trillion, meaning new funds for new programs will be very hard to find.
Tax Policy:
- 2025 will be a key year for tax reform, especially with many of the tax provisions and cuts outlined in the 2017 tax bill set to expire.
- NCFC will be working on education of the importance of section 199A Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD), and advocating to make that provision permanent.
At Landus we are committed to working on the topics and issues most important to YOU, our farmers, our customers, our employees, and our communities where we call home. Help us carry your voice and your priorities forward by taking a few minutes to let us know your thoughts in our survey, or send me an email anytime at Elizabeth.Thompson@landus.ag
