Ag sec tours state, speaks on NAFTA
Perdue comes at time of farmer anxiety, acknowledges need for immigrant labor
As farmers wrestle with issues as wide-ranging as immigration, foreign trade and distressingly low prices for their products, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue kicked off a multi-state tour in Wisconsin on Thursday so he could hear their concerns firsthand.
Perdue’s visit included a stop at the Hunger Task Force Farm in Franklin, where he picked sweet corn. His RV tour also will include visits to Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.
Named agriculture secretary in April, Perdue is the son of a Georgia farmer and has owned several agricultural businesses. He is not associated with the food company Perdue or the poultry producer Perdue Farms.
One of his main tasks this year is working with Congress on the next five-year farm bill, which will set the direction for agricultural policies and food programs.
“My principle for the farm bill is it should follow the market, not guide the market. I don’t want people farming for the farm bill,” Perdue said in an interview.
His visit comes at a time of anxiety for many Wisconsin farmers, who want to make sure that any immigration reform provides them with a reliable immigrant workforce and that changes in trade policy, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, don’t limit their ability to export.
“The overwhelming feeling I am getting from everyone right now is uncertainty,” said Carrie Mess, a dairy farmer from Watertown. “Things feel much more uncertain than they have in the past. I hear a lot of people talking about getting out of farming at this point.”
One of every nine tanker loads of milk from Wisconsin ends up in dairy products out of the country, with much of it going to Mexico. So farmers have a lot at stake if President Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to renegotiate NAFTA.
“We have a laser-sharp focus on trade and NAFTA,” said Karen Gefvert, government relations director for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
Perdue said he agrees that immigration reform is needed, the sooner the better, and he knows that dairy farms depend on workers from other countries.
“We do not have Americans who want to do the kind of agricultural work that’s out there to be done. It’s not a matter of a salary or wages. … We cannot find people growing up in America today who want to do farm labor,” he said.
The 2018 farm bill is of particular interest to the Hunger Task Force, which delivers millions of pounds of food to its network of 73 local pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters free of charge. It also provides hundreds of thousands of meals to hungry kids during the summer.
“I am always concerned when the farm bill comes around because it’s a balancing act, frankly, between the needs of agriculture and federal nutrition programs,” said Sherrie Tussler, the organization’s executive director.
A Trump proposal to curtail the nation’s food stamp program, as part of budget cuts, could hurt families struggling to pay for groceries. Last year, more than 44 million people received an average of $125 a month in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, totaling about $66.6 billion, according to the Agriculture Department.
“If we don’t see the federal nutrition programs as important, we could be in deep trouble in Milwaukee because we have a high level of poverty,” Tussler said.
Perdue said he supports the programs, but he doesn’t want able-bodied adults without dependents abusing the system.
“Just like I am talking about a safety net for farmers, we want a safety net for people who don’t have enough to eat. But we don’t want it to become a lifestyle for people who become dependent on a government program,” Perdue said.
Trump’s proposed budget also includes cuts in crop insurance and other programs for farmers, even as many are in their third straight year of falling income.
Perdue said he recognizes the importance of crop insurance, with some limits.
“It needs to be a safety net that producers can participate in and provide them with an income. But we don’t want people farming for the insurance
program,” Perdue said.
Earlier this year, dozens of Wisconsin dairy farms were nearly forced out of business when they lost their milk buyer following a trade dispute with Canada.
Critics say an oversupply of U.S. milk was the real culprit.
“Blaming Canada was a ruse,” said Pete Hardin, publisher of The Milkweed, a dairy publication based in Brooklyn, Wis.
Perdue, however, said he still wants Canada held accountable for the trade dispute when NAFTA is renegotiated.
“The president felt very strongly about that, and acting on behalf of these 75 dairy farms, he implemented the countervailing duties on Canadian lumber,” Perdue said. “That’s how strongly we feel about it.”