More than 600 industry representatives gathered in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 30-Dec. 2 for the Agricultural Retailers Association’s (ARA) 2021 Conference and Expo. ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock told attendees that the registration total of 609 was “well above initial expectations,” given that COVID travel restrictions continue and the conference was the first live event since ARA’s 2019 expo in New Orleans, La.
Multiple speakers over the three-day conference expressed relief that a face-to-face event was once again possible after the shutdowns during 2020 and early 2021. For many attendees, the lingering effects of the pandemic – including supply chain disruptions, critical labor shortages, and skyrocketing input prices – were key topics of conversation.
Each of these issues was apparent as Coppock outlined ARA’s policy agenda, which includes efforts to address driver shortages through hours of service (HOS) and CDL reforms; support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill; opposition to regulatory and government overreach; and opposition to federal vaccine mandates. “The worse thing we can do is make it harder to hire people,” he said.
While acknowledging that fair trade is a “legitimate concern for producers” and that fertilizer manufacturers are among ARA’s members, Coppock said ARA is “vocally opposed” to tariffs on farm inputs. “Especially in this current price environment, we shouldn’t do anything that increases pressure on input prices,” he said,
Coppock said ARA opposes President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, which he referred to as a “gargantuan piece of legislation” that cannot be paid for, despite the “substantial tax increases that will impact your business.”
He also referenced several recent EPA actions under the new administration, including efforts to return the contentious Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule to the standard that existed before the Obama administration. He addressed as well the regulatory crackdown on organophosphates, such as the popular insecticide chlorpyrifos, which he described as a circumvention of FIFRA. “Activists will use this success to go after other pesticides,” he warned.
Supply chain disruptions and high input prices were also brought up at a Dec. 2 panel discussion with Matt Carstens, President and CEO of Landus Cooperative, and Clay Houchin, CEO of Buttonwillow Warehouse. Houchin said he was surprised that it has taken this long “for the supply chain to fall apart.”
Carstens warned that “something is going to break” in 2022 due to high input costs that have rapidly outpaced crop prices. Houchin agreed, and stressed that more transparency is needed in the supply chain. “Growers are going to pull back, and it feels like we are coming to a cliff,” he said.
The ARA dinner and auction on Dec. 1 raised $66,545 for the organization’s ARAPAC political action committee.