Kansas Republican U.S. Senator Jerry Moran(more-ran) says wheat and sorghum need attention in the next farm bill, along with other key commodities including cotton and dairy. Legislators and agriculture groups have largely focused on cotton and dairy products so far during the early stages of farm bill discussions. In a recent editorial, Moran says lawmakers should “not forget the farm crisis in the High Plains.” Moran notes hard red winter wheat acres in Kansas are at the second lowest level in the past 100 years, reflecting the “economic reality currently facing wheat producers.” Meanwhile, Moran says the threat of sugarcane aphids to sorghum is making it harder to make a profit on the traditionally low-input crop, meaning sugarcane acres may fall by another 30 percent this year. Moran says that if farmers from across the nation – cotton, livestock, wheat and rice producers included – stand together during the next farm bill, he is “confident we can work together to address the critical issues facing growers of every commodity.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.