Friday, August 3rd, leaders from across NC and the country gathered to discuss the future of agriculture on a national scale. The conversation was organized by Congressman David Rouzer and Senator Thom Tillis in light of the recent nuisance lawsuits that are targeting eastern NC hog farmers. The roundtable was held at the NC State Fairgrounds in the Martin Building, and with a crowd of 1,000 farmers, the overflow watched from the Scott Building.
Six NCSPA directors made the trip to Raleigh that day to show their support on the issue. NC’s American Soybean Association representative, Jimmy Thomas was one among the many national commodity leaders invited to be a part of the conversation. President of American Farm Bureau Federation, Zippy Duvall commented on the issue saying “There is animal production in every state across America, and all those family farms are buying grain that is produced in every state across America. All of agriculture is being threatened by these nuisance lawsuits.” The roundtable included the following leaders:
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-Chairman David Rouzer, U.S. House Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture
-Chairman Michael Conaway, U.S. House Committee on Agriculture
Senator Thom Tillis
-Commissioner Steve Troxler, North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
-President Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation
-Commissioner Hugh Weathers, South Carolina Department of Agriculture
-North Carolina State Senator Brent Jackson
-North Carolina State Representative Jimmy Dixon
-North Carolina State Representative Ken Goodman
-Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest
-North Carolina House Majority Leader John Bell
-Dr. Kelly Zering, North Carolina State University
-U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Bill Northey, Farm Production and Conservation
-Barb Glenn, CEO of National Association of State Departments of -Agriculture-Commissioner Gary Black, Georgia Department of Agriculture
-Secretary Michael Scuse, Delaware Department of Agriculture
-Commissioner Sid Miller, Texas Department of Agriculture
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-Dr. Howard Hill, Past President of National Pork Producers Council
-Kerry Doughty, CEO of Butterball
-Brad Cornelius, CEO of Cape Fear Farm Credit
-Dave Corum, CEO of AgCarolina
-Vance Dalton, Jr., CEO of Carolina Farm Credit
-Gary Floyd, Executive Vice President of L. Harvey Inc.
-American Soybean Association
-National Association of Wheat Growers
-National Cotton Council
-National Corn Growers Association
-United Egg Producers
-NC Peanut Growers Association
-North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission
-National Chicken Council
-American Feed Industry Association
-National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
-National Turkey Federation
-Agricultural Retailers Association
-National Pork Producers Council
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Overall, it was an inspiring and uplifting day spent hearing from ag leaders from the state and across the nation. Some of these guys traveled halfway across the country to stand strong with our farmers and livestock producers. The group later held a press conference answering questions on the lawsuits and agricultural practices here in NC, setting the record straight. Commissioner Troxler summed up the meeting best when he said, “We can feed the world, but we have to be on the farm to do it.”
Below is the full video from the roundtable discussion.
