Cotton growers on Farm Bill: “There’s an appetite to work together”

The House Ag Committee passed its version of the Farm Bill during the last Congress, but it gained no traction in the Senate. Now, cotton growers are paying attention as this session gets underway.

“And so I think there’ll be some really unique demographics that get to really parlay together, really work together, and come together more so than some of the dynamics we saw going into the end of the 118th and the new 119th Congress that is just now getting started. There’s a lot of appetite, I would say, to really come together, and work together to enhance the policy that we have on the books today,” said Plain Cotton Growers CEO Kody Bessent.

Bessent also points to tax reform as another area they want to be addressed. The 2017 tax cuts will sunset later this year, leaving much of the ag community waiting for answers. President-elect Trump has said extending those cuts will be his top priority this year.

Related Stories
Farm Credit’s Christy Seyfert joined us to discuss the ag industry’s push for swift Farm Bill action as it heads toward a House vote.
RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper joined us to discuss the proposed E15 amendment in the Farm Bill, industry reaction to the legislation, and the outlook for year-round E15 sales.
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins hints at new fertilizer plan while trade deals, soybean markets, and farm bill momentum drive ag policy discussion.
U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman and U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin meet with Ohio farmers to discuss E15 expansion, rising input costs, trade concerns, and the need to move forward on a new farm bill.
New farm bill amendment renames the 1890 National Scholars Program after Rep. David Scott, highlighting support for HBCU ag education.
Farm programs remain small but politically easier to expand.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

Author Lee Klancher joined RFD-TV’s Market Day Report to discuss a new, special edition version of his book, “Farmall Century” hitting the shelves in honor of the iconic tractor’s major milestone and impact on the ag industry over the last century.
In today’s production update, Total Acre Farming’s David Hula has an enlightening conversation with Jeremy Rountree about a new, industry-disrupting product from Brandt Fungicide.
What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of the split-interest transaction? And what are the rules when property that was acquired in a split-interest transaction is sold? That is the topic of today’s blog post by RFD-TV Agri-Legal Expert Roger McEowen.
A story that started with hardship ultimately led to a producer impacting the lives of youth involved in sheep showing. The North Carolina Farm Bureau takes us to Haynes Farm in Dobson, N.C., to hear this inspiring story.
Show producer Donna Sanders shares her perspective on filming the latest episode of Where the Food Comes From at Splenda Stevia Farms, a company growing a sweet specialty crop here in the U.S. that is typically imported from overseas.