National Association of Wheat Growers adopts new climate change resolution

Farm and Ranch September 9, 2009 The National Association of Wheat Growers Board of Directors voted 26 to two late last week to oppose climate change legislation, or regulation, that has a negative impact on production agriculture. National Association of Wheat Growers President Karl Scronce from Klamath Falls, Oregon;

Scronce: “There are some studies you can look at that the benefits aren‘t quite going to be what we thought they were going to be. And all those years the cost of our fertilizer, the cost of fuel and everything is going to go up.”

While at the same time producers are watching wheat prices go down.

According to Scronce, NAWG’s initial enthusiasm for cap and trade was based largely on the promise of cellulosic ethanol.

Scronce: “We thought there was going to be a huge benefit for like wheat straw to cellulosic ethanol. You know for example when George Bush was President he mentioned in the State of the Union about switch grass and cellulosic ethanol. These promises we thought were going to be benefits just haven‘t been panning out.”

Scronce says wheat growers will also work to overturn the 2007 Supreme Court ruling that gave the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

NAWG’s new resolution also states the organization believes there should be no legislation or regulation taking effect until the major carbon emitting countries of the world have agreed to regulate their own greenhouse gases in a like manner to the United States.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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