By Gary Joiner
TFB Radio Network Manager

Dr. Joe Outlaw, a professor and Extension economist at Texas A&M University, said Texas farmers and ranchers need to know who’s looking out for their farm policy interests in Washington, D.C.

The Heritage Foundation, he said, is not one of them.

“Groups like that, who have an agenda, and they’re a long way away from production agriculture, I tell producers this: You need to be very active, and you need to tell the legislators your story, because they’re hearing every day from people who live in Washington, who wear suits, and they’re a long ways away from the land, trying to tell them what’s best for producers,” Outlaw, who is also co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University, said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network following his recent farm bill update to TFB leaders meeting in San Marcos. “I try to be as polite as I can be, to say, be careful to whom you give your money and donate to, because not everybody is looking out for your interests. Just because you align with them on a number of issues, farm policy is probably not one of them.”

Outlaw said it’s important that Texas farmers and ranchers understand The Heritage Foundation continues to call for changes that would negatively impact two key farm policy tools—commodity policies and crop insurance.

“Many people have been surprised to hear that,” Outlaw said. “Again, I have been saying this more and more, because I have been running across more people who didn’t know. And I think they need to know.”

He added there’s always budget pressure on any farm bill. But this time around, Outlaw described the budget pressure on current farm bill processes as being “on steroids.”

Outlaw recently told the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture that groups such as The Heritage Foundation clearly either have no idea how difficult the financial situation is across agriculture or simply do not care.

You can hear more from Outlaw on current farm bill processes on the TFB Radio Network .