ST. PAUL – Ted Winter of Fulda, alongside several Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU)members and staff, traveled to Washington, D.C. Sept. 12-14 to advocate for family farmers and rural residents at the 2018 National Farmers Union Legislative Fly-In. He met with several members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation.
“In the meetings with our members of Congress, I told them that farmers are in crisis,”
Winter said. “Years of low prices, unfair markets and now these tariffs and the trade war are destroying the markets for livestock and crops, driving us off the land. These tariffs will have a long-term impact on prices for family farmers. The time to end this trade war is now.”
The Fly-In included a briefing at the United States Department of Agriculture and a brief
message from Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, plus several other high-ranking USDA officials. They addressed the recently-released assistance package for producers affected by the trade war and what’s going on with trade agreement negotiations.
“It’s a critical time for agriculture with net farm income set to decrease by another 13 percent in 2018, according to the USDA Economic Research Service, after it’s decreased by more than 50 percent over the last five years,” said MFU President Gary Wertish. “We met with our whole Minnesota Congressional delegation at the Capitol and told them we need to pass the Farm Bill as soon as possible, to end the trade war and to stop the issuing of unnecessary Renewable Fuels Standard waivers to oil refineries. Each of these would provide significant relief and certainty for our family farmers and rural residents.”
