Corn Growers Need to Make Their Voices Heard on Policy Priorities
By Lesly McNitt
We may be faced with extreme heat in Washington as a heat dome hovers above the city during these first weeks of July, but the weather is not slowing the work of Congress or our corn grower leaders.
Already this month, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill as part of the budget reconciliation process championed by President Trump. The bill was signed into law on Independence Day. Though it was not the traditional bipartisan farm bill process that we prefer, the bill included many longstanding priorities for corn growers, including the extension of key tax provisions and investments in commodity, crop insurance and trade promotion programs.
These legislative wins would not have been possible without the advocacy work of corn growers who met with their members of Congress, wrote letters and made phone calls to Capitol Hill urging action. NCGA developed our tax and farm bill priorities through the leadership of growers who serve on action teams and the Corn Board.
The power of corn grower advocacy is at the heart of what makes NCGA effective in Washington, and that is why we are excited to welcome hundreds of corn growers next week to Capitol Hill to talk about our legislative priorities for the rest of the year. While the coming meetings and Corn Congress will be important, it doesn’t take a flight to D.C. to make an impact. We need farmers like you to be a force multiplier by contacting your senators and representatives to advocate for policies that impact you and other farmers.
Our priorities include:
- Convincing Congress to immediately pass legislation that will allow for year-round, nationwide consumer access to fuels with a 15% ethanol blend, also referred to as E15. Corn growers across the country are struggling with declining commodity prices and high input costs. Fears of a prolonged trade war could make the economic situation worse. Increasing sales of E15 will help during these difficult times. Yet, an outdated policy is preventing consumers from accessing higher blends of ethanol during the summer. There are several pathways that Congress could take over the coming months to pass legislation that will remove the barrier to year-round E15, and corn growers are urging quick action on this matter.
- Aggressively pursuing new market access in trade negotiations andopposing efforts to remove the U.S. from the World Trade Organization. If the United States were to formally withdrawal from the WTO it would have vast consequences for our growers and allow China to dominate global trading rules. We are working to stop any proposals to withdraw the United States from the international body. At the same time, we are proactively working with the administration to cultivate new markets and are continuing to press Congress to weigh in on the importance of securing wins for corn in all forms in trade deals. Access to Vietnam, India and Kenya, for example, could be profitable for our farmers and good for the U.S. economy. We are working to make meaningful deals with these countries a reality.
- Ensuring that the Make our Children Healthy Again Strategy, scheduled for release on August 12, respects and reinforces EPA’s robust science- and risk-based regulation of pesticides. The MAHA initiative is being led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The commission’s initial assessment from May 22 included misleading and alarmist statements regarding key pesticides, glyphosate and atrazine, used by corn growers and other farmers.Of course, NCGA supports the goal of making Americans healthier. However, farmers must have a seat at the table and credible science must be the basis for policy decisions of this magnitude. We are calling on the administration to ensure that the MAHA Commission uses sound science and risk-based analysis as it develops their policy recommendations.
We will also continue to work on other issues, such as encouraging Congress to pass a full farm bill reauthorization through 2031 and securing federal investment in aflatoxin and vomitoxin research. But we cannot accomplish our goals alone. Just as the voices of growers visiting the Hill in July will help shape policymakers’ perspectives, we need the people who represent you to hear your story and how these priorities impact you.
Here are some steps you can take to make a difference:
- Join your state corn grower advocacy group. As the saying goes, all politics are local. Your state corn group will help you get acquainted with the issues important to growers in your area. It will also provide you with membership to the National Corn Growers Association, which will ensure you are getting the best information on federal policy and other issues important to you. You can find your state group here.
- Visit the NCGA website and sign up for action alerts. You can follow the issues by reading our press releases, learn about economic matters affecting farmers by reviewing regularly released expert reports and receive alerts that will help you act on policy issues. For example, we are launching a call-to-action this month that will allow you and others to help shape the Make America Health Again efforts. You can visit the NCGA website here and sign up for action alerts here.
- Work with your local media. Policymakers read their hometown newspapers and often rely on them to gauge constituent sentiment. As you read stories about policy issues important to you, submit a letter to the editor or, better yet, write an op-ed providing readers with an understanding of your story. Let the communications professionals at your state organization know that you are available to talk with reporters on issues you care about.
Though next week’s fly-in participants can expect the same muggy July of years past, our advocacy won’t stop until we’re trekking through the snow to Capitol Hill in December.
While weather patterns change, one thing is constant: the voices of farmers make a critical difference on public policy.
I encourage you to raise your voice over the days and weeks ahead, and I thank you for putting yourself out there.
McNitt is vice president of public policy at the National Corn Growers Association.
