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NFU says Congress must act on ‘growing rural crisis’

The National Farmers Union (NFU) says Congress needs to help struggling farmers when it comes back for its final session of the year.

Zack Clark, NFU’s government affairs representative, tells Brownfield Ag News the price declines have been evident for more than a year and recent reports show the impact on farmers, “A bunch of Federal Reserve reports came out, sort of confirming some suspicions that we had after the first-quarter reports came out. And then, you know, we saw the WASDE reports come out which showed even bigger predictions about what harvest might look like.”

Clark says the Farmers Union wants Congress to increase funding for the USDA’s farm loan programs, provide emergency assistance for producers who need it and work with the USDA to provide short-term remedies for low commodity prices, “We really want to make sure legislators know, you know, the pain that is out in the countryside. The challenges that are coming with worse credit conditions, low prices.”

Clark says the government has to be funded at the end of the fiscal year and Congress needs to include funding for what he calls this ‘growing rural crisis.’ National Farmers Union members will be on Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers during their annual “fly-in” starting September 12th.