AFBF Calls for a No Vote If Congress Ignores Ag Recession

Dec 16, 2024

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall today expressed disappointment that Congress appears to turn a blind eye to the agricultural recession in its year-end supplemental legislation. Duvall calls on farm state members to oppose the bill if economic aid for farmers is missing.

“At a time when farm income is in a downward spiral and costs are rising, it’s unacceptable for Congress to turn its back on farmers. Farmers don’t get to set the prices for their goods and right now those prices don’t even come close to covering their costs. We lost 141,000 farms in five years and if Congress fails to include economic aid for farmers, the sad reality is that we’ll lose more.

“Our whole country will suffer the consequences if Congress takes farmers and our food supply for granted. For this reason, I call on members of Congress who represent agriculture to stand with farmers by insisting the supplemental spending bill include economic aid for farmers and voting it down if it doesn’t. In truth, every elected leader who enjoys our affordable and abundant food supply represents agriculture, so I urge them to band together and ensure farmers are supported.

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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.