Presidential Candidates on Ag Topics

Although the topic of agriculture hasn’t been discussed on the national stage between our presidential candidates, earlier this week representatives from both campaigns presented their candidate’s views on agriculture topics via a Farm Foundation webcast. Both candidates agree that the SNAP or the food assistance program must be included in the next Farm Bill. Clinton’s campaign representative Kathleen Merrigan sharesMerrigan: “Senator Clinton has supported Farm Bills. She has an understanding of Congress and really has a great capacity to work across the aisle. I think that she will help us, help our country in working with Congress to have a timely Farm Bill. We can’t afford delay after delay.”
Sam Clovis representing Trump’s campaign addresses crop insurance
Clovis: “The whole issue of the crop insurance is something that we’ve looked at. We have a new system in this Farm Bill that we are looking at. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it can be extremely complex. With commodity prices down these last two or three years, we are looking at a huge transition in crop insurance issues as we move forward. I think we are going to really have to address that in the next Farm Bill.”
When it comes to regulations, Trumps representative stated that regulations like WOTUS are growing burdens on small businesses making it more difficult for them to survive. While Clinton’s representative stated that the anti-regulatory drumbeat is not helpful, but rather we need to get more calibrated in our discussion.