Ag Policy Summit is among ourtraditions that dot the calendar

Keevin Lemenager
Chair ISA Membership and Policy Committee

For many of us, summer means cutting hay, the sounds and smells of a county fair and maybe family reunions. The calendar is dotted with traditional events. This is also true for the Indiana Soybean Alliance’s Membership & Policy Committee (M&P).

Among our biggest events of the year is later this month. The Ag Policy Summit is Wednesday, July 26, at the Howard County Fairgrounds in Greentown, Ind. The Ag Policy Summit is produced by M&P and the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) to share with row-crop farmers from around the state the policies that could help or hurt their farms. The event is free, and it offers up-to-date information on the ag policies being debated in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and even locally.

The Summit will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end promptly by noon. Lunch will be served at that time, and farmers may stay and network with the other growers, ag stakeholders and state lawmakers who will also attend the event. The networking and discussion after the Summit are valuable.

This year’s Summit will feature a panel discussion about Ag Banking. The panel will include Natasha Cox of Farm Credit Mid-America, John Rassi of CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, Aaron Gillum of 50 South Capital, and Mark “Doc” Holt of First Farmers Bank & Trust. With the challenges many of us are facing during this crop year, getting a peek of what might be on financial horizon will be important. Radio broadcaster Eric Pfeiffer of Hoosier Ag Today will moderate the Ag Banking panel, and he will emcee the rest of the program.

The rest of the agenda includes an outlook from Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb, a review of conservation opportunities by John Ketzenberger of The Nature Conservancy and a wrap-up of this year’s Indiana General Assembly by M&P and ICGA Senior Director of Industry Affairs Steve Howell.

As I said, the event is free, and the content is valuable. If you’re interested in attending, contact Khyla Goodman, Industry Affairs Outreach Manager for M&P and ICGA, at kgoodman@indianasoybean. com or register online at www.indianasoybean.com/ PolicySummit2023.

As you know, our representatives and senators in Congress are debating the next farm bill, and it is scheduled to be completed before the end of this year. The debate for what goes in the next farm bill is happening right now. We would like to keep the things that were good in the last farm bill while adding policies that will do more. Some of the things we’d like to see in the next farm bill include:

• Improving the farm safety net for commodities

• Protecting crop insurance

• Maintaining a voluntary, incentive-based approach to conservation programs

• Expanding investments that promote U.S. commodities globally

• Building opportunities for biofuels and biobased products

Each of these policies might require additional funding or maintaining current levels of funding. As the M&P chair, I am encouraging you to engage with your senators and representatives in Congress to seek additional resources from the budget committees. We want the 2023 Farm Bill to be a meaningful and comprehensive farm bill.