Overland Park, KS – Today on RFD-TV, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, MD, discussed the 2024 Agricultural Commodity Futures Conference, also known as AgCon, hosted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Kansas State University.
This conference focuses on agribusiness and research opportunities, the agricultural economy, commodity costs and the volatile futures markets.
You can click HERE or on the image above to watch the full interview with Senator Marshall.
Highlights of the interview include:
At the CFTC conference in Overland Park:
“It's great to have the CFTC here where they're actually interacting with the producers. They are very important when it comes to monitoring the futures markets, which are crucial to my producers.”
“You see, my father always said that farming was the biggest risk in life; He was a fourth-generation farmer's child. And what the CFTC is doing is giving us another tool in the risk management toolbox; All of your listeners understand the importance of crop insurance, the Title One programs, the ARC and PLC programs, and a Farm Bill. But the CFTC provides you with another risk management tool you can use when you're on the go and trying to get a business loan. So we get good training here. Right now some of our producers are a little afraid of using the CFTC; Using this futures market is complex.”
“There are many things in the Uncertain category. Let's move everything we can into the Specific Categories pile. So if you're planning a corn crop here in the near future, you can lock in a price at harvest time that you're happy with and then take it to your local banker and say, “Look, 'I got my crop insurance.' You know, I hardly know of any bank that would lend money for an operating loan or crop insurance, here's the Title 1 financing that would come through as well. And then you also use the CFTC product.”
“What I'm really excited about is getting the CFTC out there to my community banks, to my ag lenders and also to the big co-ops and making sure that those folks in the ag retail industry understand it and can give more.” Advice for the grower-owners in the co-ops as well. “
On the current threats to agriculture from the Biden administration:
“Well, look at the world stage. The biggest threat to commodity prices is the wars you mentioned, whether in Ukraine or the Middle East, they are a powder keg waiting to explode. And to be honest, China is also operating in the Indo-Chinese region. That's why we must do everything we can to keep the peace. You know, President Eisenhower was the first to talk about peace through strength. So there are certainly things at the national security level that we need to do to keep those markets open as well.”
“This government has not concluded a single trade agreement. They backed out of the British agreement that the Trump administration was about to finalize in China. They never made the Phase 2 agreement. In Mexico, the USMCA trade agreement with Mexico excluded GMO corn. Our administration did not stand up for us. They, this government, are caught up in environmental issues, the important farmers and ranchers, the original conservationists. This government is involved in labor issues in other countries. How about improving our trade agreements? There has been an explosion thanks to President Trump's trade deals with Japan and South Korea and beef sales. How about this administration focus on the farm, the farm, or how about this administration support ethanol?”
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