New NFU President & Defending Market Access

New NFU President & Defending Market Access. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Delegates to the 107th Anniversary National Farmers Union Convention elected North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson to lead the organization. A third-generation family farmer from Turtle Lake, N.D. who grew up in the Farmers Union, Johnson was elected North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner and recently served as president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, playing a key role in the crafting of the 2008 Farm Bill.

The Market Access Program or MAP encourages the development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial export markets for agricultural commodities but it may be in jeopardy. Washington Congressman Doc Hastings is working to oppose possible cuts.

HASTINGS:  That’s been a very important program especially for specialty crops, the predominant crops that we grow in our area so hopefully we can get that restored. We’ve got a bipartisan group of people that are behind this and we’ll go to work on it.

Hastings says that President Obama felt that it was a lesser priority program.

HASTINGS: I find that ironic because we have a slowing economy and one of the things that the Market Access Program has historically done and proven to have done is to open markets for our specialty crops.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange Report.

(GRANGE)

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.