NCGA comments on presidential election results

Nov 09, 2016

Organization says it’s time to “get to work”

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

Last night the world watched as Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45^th president of the United States. The agriculture industry is offering its congratulations to the Republican winner.

“The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) today congratulated Donald Trump on his election as the 45^th president…,” NCGA said in a release.

Wesley Spurlock, NCGA president, said now that the campaign is over, political differences need to be set aside and it’s time to “get to work.”

“As a supporter of the No Labels movement, the NCGA believes in bipartisan problem-solving and building a more responsive government,” he said in the release. “We stand ready to work with President-Elect Trump and the new Congress…”

Trump won’t be sworn in as the next president until January 20, 2017. NCGA is hoping the Obama government can still make progress with the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

A trade deal Trump has vowed to withdraw from.

“We urge Congress to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership when they return to Washington next month,” Spurlock said in the release. “TPP is the one thing Congress can do right now to increase farm income, generate economic activity and promote job growth.”

Farms.com also reached out to the American Soybean Association and American Farm Bureau Federation for comments and awaits their responses.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.