During the recent Oklahoma Wheat Review that took place in El Reno, Oklahoma hosted by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Jimmie Musick, treasurer for the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), updated attendees on some work done recently by his organization. Musick spoke with Radio Oklahoma Network’s Associate Farm Director Carson Horn about some of the challenges and opportunities he’s identified going on in the industry right now.
Musick first pointed out that a main priority needed to be a focus, not just by NAWG, but by all commodity groups on the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill. He says it seems like a long time away, but better to get started and be prepared than to let it sneak up on you. He also mentioned that he would like to see strong cooperation among all the different commodity groups, to approach Farm Bill negotiations with a united front. He seemed optimistic that an alliance of this nature would happen.
“I really think we have an opportunity to get a coalition of all the commodity groups,” Musick said, “the best we’ve ever had in the past and I think we’ve got some good legislators around that’s going to help us.”
Challenges being anticipated, Musick says will be the growing concerns over regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He says a major part of the problem is simply that there is a lot of misinformation out there about production agriculture. He says there will need to be a concerted effort to educate and promote the safe practices used by farmers to policy makers and the public.
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