Striking The Right Balance
Mark Lange
NCC President/CEO
The mandated use of biofuels has completely altered the balance achieved in the development of farm policy. With current technologies essentially dictating that ethanol be produced from grain feedstocks, other agricultural commodities find themselves estranged from policy structures now sought by some grain interests.
What about future farm policy?
Farm legislation cannot be developed in a vacuum that ignores the role of energy policy. Doing so results in support mechanisms or structures that fail to adequately serve the interests of everyone from the taxpayer to the commodity producer. Further caught in this set of conflicting signals are all the intermediate players with such operations as drying facilities, warehouses, cotton gins, elevators as well as transportation investments.
The goals of increased energy independence and reduced environmental impacts from energy production are certainly in line with National Cotton Council objectives. In fact, most U.S. cotton producers also grow grains and oilseeds used in the production of biofuels. However, to obtain non-distorting equity across commodities, it is imperative that all forms of support are considered.
source : cottonfarming
Mark Lange
NCC President/CEO
The mandated use of biofuels has completely altered the balance achieved in the development of farm policy. With current technologies essentially dictating that ethanol be produced from grain feedstocks, other agricultural commodities find themselves estranged from policy structures now sought by some grain interests.
What about future farm policy?
Farm legislation cannot be developed in a vacuum that ignores the role of energy policy. Doing so results in support mechanisms or structures that fail to adequately serve the interests of everyone from the taxpayer to the commodity producer. Further caught in this set of conflicting signals are all the intermediate players with such operations as drying facilities, warehouses, cotton gins, elevators as well as transportation investments.
The goals of increased energy independence and reduced environmental impacts from energy production are certainly in line with National Cotton Council objectives. In fact, most U.S. cotton producers also grow grains and oilseeds used in the production of biofuels. However, to obtain non-distorting equity across commodities, it is imperative that all forms of support are considered.
source : cottonfarming
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