Concerns and issues facing Alabama’s farmers were recently addressed with national lawmakers during a visit to Washington sponsored by the Alabama Farmers Federation.

Locals who made the trip included Jeff and Kay Peek of Elkmont, Ben Looney of Athens and Jerry Allen Newby and his wife Ashley and daughter Madalyn. The trip spanned March 7-10.

The contingency met with a number of federal ag officials and lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-5th, and U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby and Luther Strange, who serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Newby said there was a lot of talk about President Donald Trump’s administration and what impacts it may have on the the agricultural community. It was reported on Thursday that Trump’s proposed budget would cut 21 percent ($4.7 billion) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget. Those cuts, according to Reuters, include a halt in funding for rural water initiatives and staff at county-level service centers.

Farm Journal is also reporting the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) would receive $6.2 billion, which is approximately $400-500 million lower than 2015 and 2016 levels.

Another topic of discussion was the 2018 farm bill and the Republican-led health care bill.

“We talked with Mo Brooks about health care because most farmers have to buy their own health insurance,” Newby said. “Health care is a concern for my family.”

Statewide concerns

All told, about 140 Alabama farmers made the trip to Washington to meet with lawmakers. AFF President Jimmy Parnell said he believed agriculture would experience “real change under the Trump administration.”

Evidence of that, he said, is Trump’s willingness to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water of the U.S. rule, which was blasted by agricultural producers as being unfairly restrictive and burdensome.

Speakers during the 2017 Washington Legislative Conference continually hit home the importance of immigration and regulatory reform, trade, biotechnology and the farm bill. U.S. Rep. Mike Conway, R-Texas, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, encouraged farmers to share ideas about the upcoming farm bill.

“The beauty of doing farm bills every five years is you get to address the things you didn’t get right,” he said. “We’re going to get this bill done, and we’re going to get it done on time.”

During a congressional barbecue, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall advised farmers to establish relationships with congressional leadership.

“You have to come and be seen,” said Duvall, a Georgia farmer. “Those who show up are the ones who make a difference. It’s so important for farmers to look their congressmen and senators in the eye and say, ‘This is important to me, my family and my community.’”

Newby echoed the sentiment, saying that’s the primary reason farmers should continue to get to know their elected officials and decision makes and vice versa.

“If they have an issue or question we want them to call us,” Newby said. “We just want to be good advocates for agriculture.”

— Marlee Moore, communications specialist with the Alabama Farmers Federation, contributed to this report.