National Council of Farmer Co-operatives president Chuck Connor, a key Trump agricultural adviser, farmers could expect to be rewarded for their support for the president-elect, the UK Farmers Weekly reported.
“Farmers, ranchers and people of rural America feel like they have been under attack and they responded in the presidential election,” he told a recent Farm Foundation Forum in Washington, DC.
“President-elect Trump is very aware where his bread is buttered.”
Discussion about the 2018 US Farm Bill, which sets policy for the next four years, begins next year and Conner said the new administration would be keen to reduce the influence of organisations such as the Environmental Protection Agency.
Another particular target was likely to be the proposed Clean Water Act legislation, Waters of the United States (WOTUS).
According to Conner, the president-elect’s rural mandate made WOTUS unlikely in the 2018 Farm Bill.
But it would continue with the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which accounted for almost 80% of the farm budget, providing healthy food for low-income families.
Conner also sought to address farmers’ trade concerns, given Trump’s recent rejection of the Trans Pacific Partnership, something US beef, pork and soya producers supported.
“Within the upcoming administration there is strong recognition of the value of agricultural exports to our farm economy,” he said.
“President-elect Trump likes what he sees in agricultural trade but feels in the manufacturing sector we could do better.
“We are an agricultural export-dependent economy and the president-elect will do all he can to protect that.”
While Trump had yet to name his new agriculture secretary, Conner was believed to be a contender.
Meanwhile, farm leaders worldwide were pushing the World Trade Organisation to scrap domestic subsidies for farmers, the www.weeklytimesnow.com.au website said.
The Cairns Group Farm Leaders — an offshoot of the 19 Cairns Group countries that collectively push for free trade in agriculture — argue domestic subsidies are unfair and distort global markets.
National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar joined his counterparts from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada and New Zealand in Geneva last month to make their position clear to WTO officials.
The aim was to ensure the issue was high on the agenda when the WTO ministerial council next met, in Buenos Aires next year. Mahar said farmers in some countries received 50% of their income from government subsidies.
