RMFU Attends the NFU Legislative Fly-In

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union was excited to participate in the annual National Farmers Union Fly-In during the second week of September. This year, 34 members and staff from RMFU advocated for family farmers and ranchers during meetings with leaders in Washington, DC. The Fly-In started the first morning with briefings at the US Department of Agriculture from various USDA officials, followed by two different briefings that afternoon—one at the US Department of Justice with the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust and the other on Capitol Hill with briefings from a host of Congressional leaders and various Agriculture Committees’ staffers. The next two days were filled with meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress and their staff. We were pleased that we were able to meet with all 18 of the Congressional offices across the RMFU region, with 10 of those meetings being with the Member of Congress. In addition, RMFU met with an additional 16 Congressional offices for states that didn’t have a Farmers Union organization present at the Fly-In.

Our theme for the Fly-In this year was “For Farmers’ Sake”. This theme is asking for a Farm Bill “for farmers’ sake”, for fair competition “for farmers’ sake”, for good trade deals “for farmers’ sake”, etc. The RMFU delegation covered topics such as the need for a good Farm Bill as soon as possible, the need for immediate assistance for farmers facing financial uncertainty, the importance of fixing our trade policy in order to help producers, the importance of restoring staff at the USDA, the need to expand new markets for farmers and ranchers, and many other important policy topics. Another major focus of Fly-In this year was the crisis in farm country, which has seen a steep increase in farm bankruptcies, a drop in commodity prices, an increase in production costs, an expanding trade deficit, increasing food prices, thriving corporate monopolies, farm labor shortages, and a decrease in USDA staffing. The messages we brought to our leaders resonated with them, and we hope to see action on these topics in order to prevent a farm crisis and help the family farmers and ranchers that we represent.

For more information about the National Farmers Union Fly-In, please visit: https://nfu.org/events-programs/legislative-fly-in/.