Day two of the MARL national leadership seminar is Washington, D.C. began with an early morning session on understanding issues, positions, interests, and values at the hotel. Our first meeting on the hill was with staff from the Senate Committee on Agricultural where Minnesota native Chelsie Keys, Senior Staff member of the Senate Ag Committee, and Matt Erickson, Chief Economist of the Senate Ag Committee, had a great conversation with us about current agricultural policy.
Topics discussed included work on the 2018 Farm Bill, confirmation of key staff members, trade, market access, foreign animal disease, CRP, and immigration. While a 2018 farm bill might seem a long way off, there is a great amount of work required to meet the needs of agriculture and successfully pass both the house and the senate.
Lining up at the Capitol steps
The next stop in our day led us to the West Capitol Steps at the Grant Memorial where we assembled for a MARL Class IX Group photo. With the President’s speech schedule for later that evening security was already becoming noticeable. For us this meant lines to get through security and into the Longworth House Office Building where we had the opportunity to meet with staff from House Committee on Agriculture. Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson was able to join us as well and shared some of his thoughts on agriculture and the upcoming farm bill.
The rest of the afternoon was spent meeting with each of our respective members of congress. Those visited included Tim Walz, Jason Lewis, Erik Paulson, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, and Tom Emmer. I personally had the opportunity to sit down with Jason Lewis and his staff where we discussed the upcoming farm bill, health insurance, and labor. The remainder of the afternoon was spent exploring the hill and sitting in on portions of the House Committee on Agricultures subcommittee on livestock and foreign agriculture. It was interesting to hear testimony from some familiar and not so familiar agricultural organizations including the American Soybean Association, a professor from Texas A&M University, the U.S. Meat Export Federation, California Farm Bureau, and the U.S. Hardwood Federation. A large part of their testimony centered on the International Market Development. Did you know that the U.S. exported $150 billion in agricultural products in 2014? Or that the U.S. exported more than $2.4 billion worth of lumber in 2016? Both of these number represent a large trade surplus of agricultural products.
Our day wrapped up dinner at the historic Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria, VA where we were joined by a few special guests of MARL Class IX. Guests included John Rosenberg, a native Minnesotan who has spent much of his career in DC, and Leslie Rosenbaum & Debra Derickson, the sister and brother-in-law of classmate Russell Derickson. A highlight of the evening was the after dinner entertainment provided by Ryan Wendland as he played guitar and sang Shenandoah.
Submitted by Brent Krohn
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