Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), is urging farmers to make their voices heard as the next Farm Bill is being considered.<\/p>\n
\u201cConstantly communicate with (legislators) week in and week out,\u201d he said during a recent visit to Indiana, where he met with members of the media.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then when these congressmen and senators and other representatives come to their community and have town hall meetings, our farmers need to get off their tractors and out of their barns and then need to be present,\u201d Duvall added.<\/p>\n
He also encouraged farmers to share their own stories.<\/p>\n
\u201cFarmers can be involved on social media and bring the truth to the surface,\u201d Duvall\u00a0said. \u201cInvite people to come to the farm. Let them see for themselves. It\u2019s so valuable to a mother, to a congressman, to see and ask questions about farms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duvall said that if there is a fight over crop insurance funding, that kind of grassroots engagement is critical.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to make sure that we have congressmen and senators who understand the importance of crop insurance. Crop insurance is a requirement of most lending institutions today, and it is important to have that risk management tool there for our farmers,\u201d Duvall said.<\/p>\n
Maintaining a strong crop insurance program in the upcoming Farm Bill is a top priority of the Farm Bureau, the nation\u2019s largest farm organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cornerstone of the 2014 farm bill was crop insurance,\u201d Duvall said. \u201cOur first need and want [in the next Farm Bill] is to maintain that support of our crop insurance program, to make sure our farmers have that risk management tool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duvall\u2019s visit to the Hoosier State was part of his commitment to visit farmers in every state during his first two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), is urging farmers to make their voices heard as the next Farm Bill is being considered. \u201cConstantly communicate with (legislators) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":9117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farmers","category-whats-cropping-up"],"yoast_head":"\n