While a number of farm and industry trade groups issued statements following the Nov. 7 declaration by major news organizations of Joe Biden as the presidential election winner, others remained silent as the Trump administration mounts fresh legal challenges to the results in several battleground states.
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew on Nov. 7 issued a statement supporting Biden’s positions on enforcing antitrust regulations, strengthening the Affordable Care Act, expanding rural broadband, and promoting homegrown biofuels.
“The last four years haven’t been too kind to family farmers and ranchers. Overproduction, rampant corporate consolidation, trade disputes, and climate change have kept commodity prices stubbornly low, causing farm debt to balloon and farm bankruptcies to proliferate,” Larew said.
“On the campaign trail, President-elect Joe Biden has indicated that he intends to address many of the concerns we have expressed over the last several years,” Larew added. “We stand ready to work with his administration to ensure that its policies and programs adequately represent the interests of family farmers and rural communities.”
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, in a Nov. 7 statement, outlined additional challenges facing agriculture, including the COVID-19 pandemic and severe weather. He also stressed the need to expand trade and market access, strengthen the farm bill, and continue regulatory reform.
“We urge all those chosen by the people to use the election to turn the page on partisanship and commit to working together,” Duvall said. “President-elect Biden’s term and a new Congress begin a new chapter in America’s story. Agriculture has been part of that story since the very first chapter, and we stand ready to work with our elected leaders to ensure farmers and ranchers regain their footing so they can help make America stronger and more prosperous.”
Growth Energy, a trade group representing the nation’s ethanol producers, also issued a statement congratulating Biden and Kamala Harris, saying the Democratic ticket campaigned and won on a promise to promote ethanol and other biofuels.
“Biofuels are the most affordable and effective solution available now, and the new administration must harness those environmental and economic benefits by strengthening the Renewable Fuel Standard, accelerating innovations in climate-friendly farming, and promoting low-carbon transportation strategies at home and abroad,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor.
In its post-election rundown for members, The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) noted key Senate results that included Democrats picking up seats in Colorado and Arizona and Republicans picking up a seat in Alabama. “Democrats had high expectations of flipping the Senate going into the election, though it looks likely that the Republicans could retain their majority,” TFI said, adding that two races in Georgia are headed to a runoff election on Jan. 5, 2021.
Those two Georgia races are pivotal, however, since Republicans currently have a 50-48 edge in the Senate. Georgia’s Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are squaring off against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Historically, Georgia has trended Republican for nearly three decades, and runoff elections have almost always ended in the favor of Republican candidates. If Democrats win both of the Georgia races, however, they could still win the Senate majority since Vice President-elect Kamala Harris could break ties in the body.
As for the House races, TFI noted that Republicans “performed much better than anticipated,” losing a few seats but retaining most of them. “A shrinking Democratic lead in the House will make the 2022 mid-term elections a fierce battle, with a possible change in party control,” TFI said. “An increased number of Republicans in the House also means that Speaker Pelosi is likely to have to be more selective about the legislation she brings to the House floor because she will have fewer Democrat votes to lose.”
TFI also highlighted the successful races of its Congressional Fertilizer Caucus (CFC) members, noting on Nov. 4 that at least 36 races were called in their favor. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.), both CFC members, also won reelection in extremely tight races that saw delayed results. TFI said the only general election loss among CFC members was Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).
Both TFI and the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) have withheld any formal statement or comment on the presidential election results. Additionally, no statements were forthcoming from the National Corn Growers Association, the American Soybean Administration, or the National Cotton Council this week.
To date, the Trump administration has filed nearly 20 lawsuits in multiple states challenging the Nov. 3 election results.
TFI said it will host a post-election briefing on Dec. 2 at 1:00 p.m. EST with Cook Political Report House Editor David Wasserman.