Post by pavel on Jan 15, 2016 22:10:27 GMT -6
* Credit to Jeff Ross, the kilt wearing sociology professor at South Plains College in Levelland, for the subject line of this thread.
Letter: Include cottonseed in commodity programs
Cotton producers, cotton infrastructure and the rural communities that depend upon a viable cotton industry are in peril.
Producers in Texas and across the Cotton Belt are struggling with the effects of low prices, high input costs, weak demand and growing competition from heavily subsidized foreign producers. All of these challenges combine to create the worst cash flow situation for cotton growers in years, and without some relief, many producers will be out of business because they will not be able to obtain financing.
Declines in cotton production mean the infrastructure of cotton gins, warehouses and associated business will go with it, and history tells us it will not return. That means fewer workers have jobs; local businesses suffer with reduced sales of fuel, tires, fertilizer, seed and other inputs; and transportation companies must scale back due to reduced volume. The impacts eventually reach even further toward the consumer.
The 2014 Farm Bill gives Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack the authority to designate “other oilseeds” to be included in commodity programs. The cotton industry has asked that Secretary Vilsack place that designation on cottonseed.
Cottonseed is a valuable product generating significant revenue by farmers. I urge Secretary Vilsack to answer the call of 100 members of Congress, 19 senators, numerous national agriculture and lending associations, as well as 376 lenders from across the country who have written to him in support of this proposal. This designation would help alleviate the strain on our farming operations.
SHAWN HOLLADAY, president,
Plains Cotton Growers/Lubbock
lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2016-01-15/letter-include-cottonseed-commodity-programs#comment-389399
Letter: Include cottonseed in commodity programs
Cotton producers, cotton infrastructure and the rural communities that depend upon a viable cotton industry are in peril.
Producers in Texas and across the Cotton Belt are struggling with the effects of low prices, high input costs, weak demand and growing competition from heavily subsidized foreign producers. All of these challenges combine to create the worst cash flow situation for cotton growers in years, and without some relief, many producers will be out of business because they will not be able to obtain financing.
Declines in cotton production mean the infrastructure of cotton gins, warehouses and associated business will go with it, and history tells us it will not return. That means fewer workers have jobs; local businesses suffer with reduced sales of fuel, tires, fertilizer, seed and other inputs; and transportation companies must scale back due to reduced volume. The impacts eventually reach even further toward the consumer.
The 2014 Farm Bill gives Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack the authority to designate “other oilseeds” to be included in commodity programs. The cotton industry has asked that Secretary Vilsack place that designation on cottonseed.
Cottonseed is a valuable product generating significant revenue by farmers. I urge Secretary Vilsack to answer the call of 100 members of Congress, 19 senators, numerous national agriculture and lending associations, as well as 376 lenders from across the country who have written to him in support of this proposal. This designation would help alleviate the strain on our farming operations.
SHAWN HOLLADAY, president,
Plains Cotton Growers/Lubbock
lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2016-01-15/letter-include-cottonseed-commodity-programs#comment-389399