Area Iowa Farm Bureau delegates pictured in Washington, D.C. last month including Joe Sperfslage of Coggon, Ben Koellner of Milton, Ben Schulte of Amana, Christy Flamme of Traer, and Josh Crist of Tipton. PHOTO COURTESY OF IOWA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

WASHINGTON D.C. – More than 30 Iowa Farm Bureau members representing 21 counties, including Tama, met with Iowa’s congressional delegation recently in Washington, D.C. to discuss policy issues important to Iowa agriculture and their family farms. Among the attendees was Christy Flamme of Traer.

The group of Iowa farmers met with Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, along with Reps. Ashley Hinson, Randy Feenstra, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn. They also attended presentations on taxes, environmental protection, biofuels and grain marketing. The members joined members from the Illinois and Nebraska Farm Bureaus and met with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

The Farm Bureau members stressed the urgency of passing an updated farm bill and shared challenges related to the uncertainty of waiting for congressional action. Since the last farm bill was passed in 2018, farmers have faced volatile markets, record-high inflation and costs to raise a crop, along with uncertainty surrounding international trade.

The farmer delegation urged lawmakers to make critical updates to the farm safety net which are needed to help farmers manage risk of today’s prices and provide certainty for long-term planning.

Other important topics and issues raised by members included protecting interstate commerce, international trade and expanding biofuel markets. The farmers emphasized the importance of protecting interstate commerce to prevent individual states from regulating agricultural production in other parts of the country.

Members shared how regulations like California’s Prop 12 are already having negative impacts for farmers and consumers. The group said if similar arbitrary laws are passed by other states, it could affect virtually every product raised by farmers, creating nationwide challenges and rising costs for both farmers and consumers.

The farmer delegation also sought support for biofuels markets and year-round E15 legislation to expand availability to other states and encouraged exploring and developing export markets for agricultural goods.