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RFA official credits farm bill with protecting farmers

An official with the Renewable Fuels Association calls the farm bill a backstop that protects the lifeblood of his industry.

Commonwealth Agri-Energy general manager and past RFA chairman Mick Henderson says his ethanol plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky depends on corn farmers to provide necessary raw materials.

“It’s essential that they grow corn efficiently, and year to year have the certainty of an ongoing business.  The banks need that, implement dealerships need that.  The whole ag economy needs that certainty, and that’s what the farm bill does.”

Henderson tells Brownfield it was a thrill to represent the ethanol industry at the White House as President Trump signed the new farm bill into law.

“Although (it’s) much broader than ethanol, feed stocks, and corn.  Much broader than the row-crop, it’s much broader than farming.  Shoot, it’s a food bill more than it is a farm bill.”

He says the challenges facing agriculture won’t all be solved with the signing of a bill, and Henderson calls on farm groups to continue working hard to ensure farmers can be successful.