Past NFU presidents urge Biden to advance ag, bioenergy

Four former presidents of the National Farmers Union sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden on Dec. 15 urging his administration to blaze a new trail in harnessing the power of U.S. agriculture to protect our planet for future generations.

The letter describes the many challenges U.S. agriculture has faced in recent years due to the devastating consequences of climate change and stresses that those challenges were compounded under the Trump administration, which they say “destroyed demand for U.S. crops and blocked efforts to invest in the resilience of rural communities.

“Worse,” they continued, “the Trump administration actively undercut the Renewable Fuel Standard, abusing secretive exemptions for oil refiners and limited markets for earth-friendly biofuels produced from energy-rich crops.”

The letter stresses that Biden has the power to open a new chapter in the battle for a healthy climate. “To do that, we urge you to embrace the opportunities offered by on-farm conservation practices, precision agriculture, and sustainable bioenergy to turbo-charge the green revolution in rural America,” the group wrote.

The letter is signed by Roger Johnson, Tom Buis, Dave Frederickson, and Leland Swenson.