President’s Podium: Federal Action

The wild ride continues… As many of you know, the funding for our AgWell program was suspended at the end of April, and we scrambled to find the funding to continue this great resource for people in agriculture. The good news is, through a lot of work, outreach, and media attention, we have successfully raised enough funds to continue all of the AgWell work we had planned for this year.

I also joined a large group of Farmers Union members from RMFU and across the country in Washington D.C., for the National Farmers Union Week of Action, taking the message to our federal legislators that agriculture needs stability. With all the turmoil in domestic and international markets, our family farmers and ranchers are feeling the negative effects. Agriculture deals with enough uncertainty in normal times, the added unknowns are putting more pressure on our members and friends. The fact that the 2018 Food and Farm Bill has been extended twice already is unacceptable, and that’s the message we took. On one hand, I was extremely pleased that RMFU’s reputation of being a nonpartisan, policy-based organization allowed us the opportunity to share our stories and concerns with both sides of the aisle. We continue to have good working relationships with influential Democrats such as Senator Bennet and Representative Vasquez, and Republicans such as Senator Barrasso and Representative Evans. Unfortunately, the political gridlock in D.C. continues, and the hope for a 2025 Food and Farm Bill is low. We instead pivoted to advocating for stability in other ways, getting general agreement that previously awarded grants and funding should be released. We will continue to push for a workable Food and Farm Bill in 2025 but will also continue to work for smaller wins when we can.

On a more positive note, the Colorado Legislature wrapped up with a win, as SB25-128 was passed and signed into law. This law repeals the unconstitutional Key Service Provider portion of the SB21-087 law. This effectively ends the lawsuit RMFU and other ag groups in Colorado filed, and is thanks to the great work of our Government Relations team and some key legislators.

In addition, we continue to be vigilant regarding the introduction of wolves to Colorado and the effects on our producers. While we continue to have issues with the management of the project, we are very pleased the decision was made to follow the Wolf Management Plan built by a group of stakeholders and declared one of the wolves in Copper Creek Pack as chronically depredating, and the wolf was removed.

Looking forward to the rest of the year, I don’t think we will slow down. We continue to advocate in Washington D.C., staff has begun planning for RMFU’s annual convention, and who knows what surprises will come.  Until next month, we will continue working towards our vision of a society in which family farmers, ranchers, and their communities thrive.