Democratic presidential candidates on agriculture

Jan 26, 2016

Candidates are Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

The three frontrunners for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming American presidential election participated in a town hall debate in Iowa Monday night – their last time to speak to Iowa voters before the caucuses take place.

While foreign policy, taxes and climate change are important issues facing the American people, where do the candidates stand when it comes to agricultural issues?

During the town hall, only one candidate was asked a question about agriculture.

Jana Linderman, President of the Iowa Farmers Union, asked former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley how he would invest in new farmers and the next generations of family farms across the country.

“I plan to work with congress, to do more in the Farm Bill to reduce the barriers of entry to new farmers as they start up (because there are) huge capital costs that go into buying the land and buying the equipment,” he said. “We need to do more as a nation to encourage young farmers to go into farming and reduce those barriers and those capital costs, even at the same time that we push back against the concentration monopoly power over the agricultural sector.”

According to her official website, Hillary Clinton’s plans to support farmers and ranchers include:

Doubling funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program and fight to enact the New College Compact to help with student debt
Doubling funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program and the Local Food Promotion Program
Continuing to target federal resources in commodity payment, crop insurance and disaster assistance programs

Bernie Sanders’ website lists some of the initiatives he’s supported when it comes to farmers and agriculture in America, including:

Supporting GMO labeling in his home state of Vermont and would work towards national legislation
Supported the Farm Bill and Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act
Supported the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act of 2013
Supported the Growing Safe Food Act of 2009, which educates farmers about safe and efficient farming practices

You can watch the full town hall debate from Iowa below.

Video: Did Bears Win Thanksgiving, Will Bulls Get Christmas?

Did the bears win Thanksgiving (although this week had green on the screen), and will the bulls get Christmas? Bears won thanksgiving thanks to a USDA Nov crop report dud that stalled the bullish grain momentum for a brief period. But a bullish lower yield surprise in the Dec crop report could reignite the rally.
2026 U.S. winter wheat planting is nearly complete at 97% while crop conditions improved by 3 points to 48% good-to-excellent. US corn & soybean harvest is complete.
High corn demand, which is off the chart, and more Chinese soybean demand could support a Christmas rally.
Nasdaq had it’s worst November since 2011.
A U.S. Fed rate cut in December will help fund flow and sentiment.
Bitcoin held a long-term support at 80,000 and that's positive for fund flow and sentiment. It should help stock prices and Ag as we go into December.
Fertilizer prices continue to climb as we look ahead to 2026. Farmers may rely more on the nutrients that they already have in their soils.
South American Weather remains critical as the soybean reproductive stage starts from late Nov to late Feb depending on planting date.
Will a Russia-Ukraine peace deal happen by year-end?
CFTC data as of showed more managed money fund sell-off as of October 14th.