This week’s Open Mic guest is Rob Larew, President of the National Farmers Union. Several hundred farmers and ranchers from across the nation were in Washington last week to hear updates from the USDA and Congressional leaders. Larew says farmer attitudes are as varied as weather conditions across the country. Larew says Congress can’t simply rubber stamp the 2018 farm bill and expect to meet the needs of crop and livestock producers in today’s economic environment nor can they expect outdated programs and triggers to protect producers through what promises to be continued volatility in the years ahead. NFU members want to see changes in cattle price discovery and are adamant about seeing changes in beef labeling.

This week’s Open Mic guest is Bill Hoagland, Senior Vice President of the Bipartisan Policy Center. In a day where Washington faces mounting issues of government outlays and rising national debt, Hoagland say partisanship must give way to solutions that maintain essential federal programs and services. Hoagland provides key insights on budget reconciliation, DOGE, tax reform, a farm bill and the debt ceiling, which are all critical issues facing the 119^thCongress.

This week’s Open Mic guest is Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG. The global company is heavily invested in developing innovative technology for farmers around the world. The company’s pursuit of crop genetics, herbicide resistance, chemical crop protection and data management has benefitted farmer goals toward both sustainability and productivity. Anderson tells Agri-Pulse that legal challenges to glyphosate are limiting the company’s investments in innovation and may result in eliminating the sale of a herbicide that many farmers consider essential to sustainable production. 

This week’s Open Mic guest is Chris Abbott, CEO of Pivot Bio. The California company was formed 15 years ago with a premise of using soil microbes to utilize naturally occurring nitrogen to sustainably feed plants and replace synthetic fertilizers. After going commercial five years ago, the company continues to grow the number of farmers and acres utilizing their gene edited products. Abbott sees a bright future for growth in the use of soil microbes to increase productivity, reduce nutrient costs and boost producer sustainability.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is U.S. Representative John Garamendi. California's 8^th district Democrat is a strong advocate for agriculture, nutrition programs and global humanitarian aid. As a member of the Agriculture Research Caucus, Garamendi believes DOGE cuts in government employees and spending cuts will lead to ill fated consequences for farmers in the form of crop and livestock disease research and readiness as well as dramatic cuts to food and medical aid for those in impoverished areas of the world. Garamendi sees little chance the California legislature will make changes to Prop 12, leaving that responsibility to Washington and perhaps a new farm bill. 

This week’s Open Mic guest is Kurt Coffey, Vice-President, Case IH North America. Reduced farm income has resulted in lower volume sales of large agriculture equipment in the nation.  Coffey expects some improvement if USDA releases disaster and economic assistance funds approved in the continuing resolution in the latter hours of the 118^th Congress. Coffey says artificial intelligence is helping in machine repairs as well as more efficient field operations. Case-IH supports farmer repairs to their machines. Coffey says proposed tariffs on Canadian imports as well as tariffs on steel could impact their operating margins in the year ahead.