President Donald Trump has acknowledged the growing consolidation in agriculture, particularly on the cattle packing side. Jeff Kipley is vice president of the National Farmers Union.
“This is something we’ve been on for a long time, and it’s great to finally get the attention of the administrations. You know, the Biden administration, towards the end of his term, started to look into this, and now Trump is seeing that there’s an issue, and putting his administration on it as well. And so it is really encouraging to us that they at least acknowledge a problem and are looking into it to see what we can do about it.”
Another important issue for the National Farmers Union is getting a new farm bill. Kipley said with high input costs and low commodity prices, it’s vital that a farm bill get passed by Congress.
“This is something that farmers need across the country, right now, with the high input costs and the low prices. We are seeing a little bit of rebound in the bean and corn markets right now, but we really need that farm bill. The conservation title is kind of left out of what they passed in the Big, Beautiful Bill, and so, to get this Farm Bill 2.0 or the short Farm Bill, whatever you want to call it, is very important. We’re glad to see some movement. We’d like to see a few things changed in it, maybe strengthen up that safety net a little bit more, reimagine a few different things, but at least it’s progress. And that’s what we’re taking away from this, that it’s moving in the right direction.”