Members of the Iowa Farmers Union went to Washington D.C. to advocate at Congressional offices for the Farm Bill recently. From left are Zachary Couture, Aaron Lehman, Joshua Manske, John R. Whitaker, Elle Gadient and John Clayton.
By John Clayton
For The Catholic Messenger
I find inspiration in Pope Francis’s encyclical, “Laudato Si,” which emphasizes the interconnectedness of caring for both people and nature. I believe these values should be reflected in our future national Farm Bill to help mitigate the impact of climate change for future generations. Thinking about the environment for the next generation, such as my great-great niece in Rock Island, Illinois who just celebrated her first birthday, is crucial.
One month ago, our small Iowa farmer group pursued our mission of advocating for family farmers by traveling to Capitol Hill. Upon our arrival, I found myself feeling anxious about making progress. The leadership of both parties have made no effort to work seriously toward a compromise regarding the proposed $1.5 trillion Farm Bill, which faces reauthorization every five years. It was set to expire Sept. 30 but Congress kicked the can down the road.
This is just one of several legislative projects that Congress seems to be ignoring. Will this lack of attention by the House and Senate continue? Six members of the Iowa Farmers Union, including me, visited our senators and representatives for several days to advocate for family farmers. This was my fourth time in recent years to Capitol Hill for this purpose.
During that second week of September, the National Farmers Union (NFU) joined more than 300 state and national agriculture, commodity and banking groups in urging congressional leaders to pass a Farm Bill before the end of the year. They highlighted worsening economic conditions, natural disasters and international supply chain challenges as reasons for passing a new Farm Bill this year.
This past summer, Deere & Company announced it was laying off around 600 people in manufacturing plants in Illinois and Iowa. Kinzie Manufacturing, based in Williamsburg, announced it laid off just under 200 people in August.
Even if they are not CEOs overseeing manufacturing plants, farmers’ earnings directly affect workers in farm equipment factories. A decrease in farm income has a ripple effect across Iowa communities, leading to reduced profit margins in various sectors of the economy.
As advocates for family farmers in Iowa, we discussed these economic conditions with our Iowa congressional legislators and emphasized the urgency of immediate action. In response, the legislators expressed their desire to pass a new Farm Bill and expressed frustration with the parties’ leadership.
One of the requests on our NFU’s list was to maintain funding through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This funding would support practices such as cover crops, rotational grazing, no-till systems, prairie strips and increasing the acre payment for Conservation Reserve Program fields, often referred to as climate-smart practices.
Well, here it is a month later and we still have no answer as to whether Congress will vote on a new Farm Bill this year. The Nov. 5 general election has many people anxiously on edge, including worried family farmers, hoping for the best.
(John Clayton is a farmer in Brooklyn and a member of St. Patrick Parish in Brooklyn.)
