Last week, Plains Cotton Growers Inc. arrived in Washington D.C. to visit with congressional members prior to fiscal year 2023 funding proceedings.
PCG chairman Brent Nelson, president Martin Stoerner and chief executive officer Kody Bessent communicated the importance of PCG’s funding priorities for its producers and the cotton industry overall.
“We have many friends of the cotton industry and agriculture as a whole in Washington, and had some productive conversations concerning our advocacy efforts in regard to end- of- the- year spending opportunities.”
PCG advocated for an extension of the Emergency Relief Program for the 2022 crop year. Nelson and Stoerner were able to highlight the catastrophic crop year for both Senators and Representatives as cotton producers in West Texas.
Additional priorities such as funding for the Boll Weevil Eradication Program, classing office upgrades and maintaining full funding for the USDA Market Access Program and the USDA Foreign Market Development Program were also mentioned.
PCG also highlighted the need to encourage USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service to reinstate the ag level district estimates for cotton. While report language was included in Senate legislation for this, Bessent asked Representatives to consider it, too.
Another important issue PCG discussed with Congress members was the impact of this crop year on the cotton industry’s infrastructure.
“We wanted our government officials to know that cotton gins, warehouses, oil mills, all infrastructure that supports the cotton industry, will also experience negative impacts from the crop conditions of 2022,” Bessent said.