American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president Bob Stallman and National Farmers Union (NFU) president Roger Johnson will be masters of ceremony for the Farm Bill Now rally on September 12 by the Capitol Reflecting Pool The rally is an effort to build public awareness of the need for Congress to pass a new, comprehensive, five-year farm bill before current one expires at the end of this month. Lawmakers scheduled to speak at the event include Senate Ag Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, House Ag Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson and South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem.

Among the organizations taking part in the rally is the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), because president Dennis Slater says 250,000 jobs in the equipment manufacturing industry are at risk if Congress fails to pass new legislation this month.

“The agricultural equipment industry has assisted the farm agriculture community providing the safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply in the world. This has allowed farmers and ranchers to continue to invest in modern equipment that they need to stay competitive and stay successful throughout the world,” said Slater who explains that without that safety net in the Farm Bill, the uncertainty and lack of protection could force farmers to make many difficult decisions.

“One of those decisions would be to not invest in the latest technology in new equipment, which means they would not be as competitive moving forward. This not only hurts the farmers, it hurts our economy, it hurts the production lines of our manufacturers, which leads to a cost of manufacturing jobs. The ripple effect could really put a damper on our economy, and no one wants that right now during these uncertain times,” added Slater.

Listen to an interview with Dennis here: [wpaudio url=”http://zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fps12-fbnow-aem.mp3″ text=”Dennis Slater interview”]