INDIANAPOLIS — Climate change and other environmental concerns will likely be a focus under the next administration, said farm policy expert Ray Starling.
Starling was the keynote speaker at the Midwest Pork Conference.
He served as an agriculture and ag trade adviser to President Donald Trump and then became chief of staff for Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of focus on climate change and how ag can be a solution to that discussion,” he said.
President-elect Joe Biden’s administration also will decide how to handle cash flow in the agriculture industry, Starling said.
In 2020, he said, government spending on agriculture — not counting welfare and supplemental food programs — will exceed $40 billion.
This includes payments from the Market Facilitation Program, Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and government-managed crop insurance payments.
“In a single year, agriculture is going to receive twice the direct payment payouts as the entire automobile industry did back in the late 2000s, and perhaps we’re not even finished,” Starling said. “This level of investment, this amount of money coming into the coffers of farmers, is simply neither economically or politically continuously feasible.”
Looking to 2021, Starling said Congress needs to focus on ag issues rather than passing the ball.
“There are a lot of thorny and hairy issues in agriculture that Congress is going to have to quit punting on,” he said. “Labor and immigration policy, genetic engineering policy — particularly as it relates to animal production and animal agriculture — and, of course, trade, trade, trade.
“Most of that is left up to the executive branch. But Congress has a role there and could exert that role more than they currently do.”
The ag industry has an opportunity to better understand its consumers in 2021 and beyond, Starling suggested.
Promoting conservation efforts, renewable fuels and expanded trade could benefit the industry.
Starling expects more conversation about climate change and nutrition programs next year. He anticipates continued talks about furthering rural broadband and enforcing round one of the China trade deal.
