Minnesota farmers joined colleagues from North Dakota and Iowa at Minnesota Farmfest to discuss issues impacting the farming community, reports the Fairbault Daily News. 11 congressmen listened to concerns from loan issues to land use issues that impact farmers today.
Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway and ranking Democrat Collin Peterson are traveling around the country to hear from farmers, bringing along members that may not include farmers in their district.
“Bringing the Agriculture Committee to my district, to Farmfest, gave members the opportunity to hear directly from Minnesota’s farmers about the challenges they face in this part of the country,” said Peterson according to the Fairbault Daily News.
Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative chairman Kyle Peterson brought up the challenge that farmers face balancing risk with financial borrowing.
“Most crop farmers borrow more in one year to produce a crop than most Americans do in a lifetime,” said Peterson according to the Fairbault Daily News. “We borrow to plane the next crop long before we are paid for the last crop. Our risks have gone up while our balance sheets have gone down.”
