Agri-Pulse Open Mic Interview

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Paul Drazek, Managing Partner of DTB Associates. The Trump administration’s trade agenda has yielded positive results recently with new agreements with Korea, Canada and Mexico. However tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place and continue to bring retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural commodities. Drazek questions the results of those trade deals and is skeptical of future negotiations with targeted nations by the White House. Drazek fears the ongoing trade war with China could linger.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Dr. Margaret Zeigler, Executive Director of the Global Harvest Initiative. The 9th annual GAP Report indicates a disturbing trend for global agriculture. While U.S. agriculture drowns in a surplus of bulk commodities, the global productivity trend falls short of the long range goal of meeting the food, fiber and fuel demands of a growing population. Zeigler says low income countries are especially deficient and would benefit from better trade relations, funding for research as well as public/private partnerships in food production.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council. Soybean farmers are feeling the brunt of the trade war between the U.S. and China. Sutter shares how the trade war with China may incentivize global competition and at the same time reduce demand for soybeans. In this interview, Sutter outlines the industry’s short and long term strategy to maintain global market share and actually grow global market opportunities for U.S. growers.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. While the Michigan Democrat is adamant that the principal four negotiators will reach a compromise on a new farm bill, she also shares that the policy preferences between the House and Senate versions of the language are bigger than a single issue. Still, Stabenow isn’t ready to talk about extending the 2014 law.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway. With the expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill, congressional farm policy leaders face a daunting task of finding a compromise that can be approved by both chambers in a lame duck session after the mid-term election and signed by President Trump before the end of the calendar year. The Texas Republican says the impasse over finding an amicable compromise is bigger than one person or even a single issue. While he’s not ready to concede that extension of the previous law will be required, Conaway admits October is the critical month for a new farm bill this year.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Dr. Dave Pyburn, Senior Vice President for Science and Technology with the National Pork Board. In this interview Dr. Pyburn reviews the history of African Swine Fever that poses a tremendous threat to the global swine herd, as well as to corn and soybean growers and consumers. Pyburn discusses the spread of the disease in China and outlines measures the U.S. must take to prevent this lethal virus from infecting our domestic pork herd.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts. With time running short before the expiration of current farm policy, the Kansas Republican leader says he and the other primary leaders of the farm bill conference committee continue to work toward a resolution to challenging issues in policy reform including nutrition assistance work requirements. Roberts offers thoughts on the Trump trade agenda including TPP and speaks to plans that would relocate some segments of USDA out of the DC area.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Representative Steve King. The Iowa Republican offers insight to Congressional budget decisions that must be resolved before the end of the fiscal year and is less optimistic that farm bill conferees will meet the deadline for a new set of farm laws. King say he and voters in the Iowa 4th district support the Trump trade agenda, but fear the consequences of a trade war that lasts into the new year. King is outspoken on his Protecting Interstate Commerce Act and doesn’t believe immigration reform will be accomplished in this Congress.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Jennifer Ozimkiewicz, North American Regional Marketing Manager for Bayer Crop Science. After a near two year journey, Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto came to a conclusion just days before the opening of the 2018 Farm Progress Show. In this interview, Ozimkiewicz discusses how product strengths and the research capacity of both companies may lead to more rapid development and approval of products to boost farm productivity. She also discussed litigation against glyphosate, the need for the continued approval of dicamba herbicide in crop protection and efforts to enhance consumer acceptance of new science in agriculture.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is the Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson. The Minnesota Democrat is clearly focused on the Farm Bill Conference Committee and completion of the 2018 Farm Bill by the September 30 deadline. Peterson offers an update on the work to date on the compromise language and outlines some of the biggest challenges House and Senate leaders face in completing the bill. Peterson says time is of the essence and he’s not willing to talk about missing the legislative mark. He also shares his concerns about China and international trade.