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Five members of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture helped set policy for next year’s National Agriculture Service during a business session at the American Farm Service Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday, January 10. .
Top issues monitored by OKFB representatives included policies that address the country’s farming program in preparation for the Farm Bill debates that the organization expects to occur throughout the year. Resolutions passed by the delegates updated the organization’s policies regarding several agricultural program areas, including crop insurance. conservation programs; disaster relief programs; and ensuring that environmental, social, and governance scoring is not tied to agricultural program eligibility. It also calls for more funding for agricultural programs.
“Our main focus this year has been the preparation of the Farm Bill, which is due to take place later this year,” said OKFB President Rodd Moesel, who served as a voting delegate for the AFBF. “A lot of attention was given to many aspects, from crop insurance and risk management issues to individual commodity and conservation issues.”
Beef and livestock marketing considerations were also top priorities for OKFB representatives, along with climate issues, expanding and sustaining trade opportunities for American agriculture, and calls for further research into carbon markets. .
AFBF business meetings allowed farmers and ranchers across the country to consider, discuss and vote on proposed changes to the organization’s grassroots policy. The changes the group adopted came from members of local farm departments across the country, starting at the county farm department level.
“One of the reasons the national organization works so well is that we hear from all over the country,” says Moesel. “Of course, we have a responsibility to ensure that Oklahoma farmers and ranchers are represented and that the entire nation understands the Oklahoma perspective.”
Scott Neufeld, a leading county farmer and rancher, was one of five delegates representing Oklahoma agriculture at the business session. A bureau mate said he was confident in the position he reached during the meeting.
“Seeing the idea and ability that anyone in every state can talk about any issue gives me a lot of confidence,” Neufeld said. “There’s freedom there. There’s been a lot of input and a lot of discussion on many different controversial items, and I think we’ve all arrived at some good resolution.
The adopted policies form the framework for the national policy efforts that the AFBF will implement for members of the Department of Agriculture in the following year.
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