The Oklahoma Wheat Commission held its annual wheat review today at the Redlands Community College Darlington Chapel in El Reno. Joining them in attendance was Chandler Goule, the newly hired chief executive officer of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). Goule, it seems hit the ground running in his new position, already mobilizing his organization’s efforts to ensure his members’ voices are heard as talks preempting the 2018 Farm Bill are already starting.
“I’m about six weeks into the new job and slowly making my way around the country to meet with wheat growers,” Goule said, “to sit and talk about one of our favorite issues, the 2018 Farm Bill and how to prepare for it.”
Wasting no time, Goule and his staff have already begun putting a strategic plan into place working with all 22 of their state affiliates to develop NAWG’s priorities for the Farm Bill through their committees. Right now, Goule says they are developing their policies from a 50,000 ft. view for their fall meeting being held later this year in Denver. He says this will set the stage for their winter meeting in January to really “put a little more meat to those bones,” Goule said.
“My expectation and guess,” Goule said, “is that we will start seeing field hearings or some type of hearing process as early as February or March in Washington, D.C. and we need to be prepared.”
Goule says several other commodity groups including NAWG have proactively joined forces this year, to find common ground in the Farm Bill and approach the process with a unified voice. He says this will help to ward off those who don’t support the farming families of the U.S. through the Farm Bill legislation in the way NAWG and other groups do.
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