Will a lack of congressional experience hurt agriculture in Northern Colorado? 

With an annual market value of $1.54 billion, Weld County is the nation’s eighth largest agricultural county in the United States.  Much of the county’s agriculture was financed through New Frontier Bank lines of credit extended in the spring to farmers and ranchers who then repaid them once harvest is complete or livestock is sold.

After being taken over by the FDIC last month, New Frontier Bank will close it’s doors on Friday.  Along with the closing goes hundreds of millions of dollars in lines of credit for Northern Colorado farmers, ranchers and other small businesses.  A recent Denver Post article explained that NFB’s closing will have a “severe” effect on the local economy but that “the impact on the agricultural community could be profound.”  One third of Colorado’s dairy farms relied upon financing from NFB.

I’m not going to rehash what happened at NFB.  Read the Denver Post article cited above for more information on what led to the nation’s largest bank failure.  My concern is what will happen to agriculture in the nation’s eighth largest agricultural county and one of the leading industries in Weld County.

Last Tuesday, Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, along with 4th CD Congresswoman Betsy Markey, sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack  asking him ”to shift funds from the agency’s guaranteed loan coffers to a program that would let the government bypass banks and make direct loans to farmers.”   According to the Denver Post, the money could “steer millions of dollars in new credit resources to the financially battered Weld County area, where farmers are in limbo after the collapse of New Frontier Bank.”

Our congressional delegation is to be commended for sending a letter asking for help.  Problem is that we are nine days from that letter and the Fort Collins Coloradoan reports that Secretary Vilsack has not responded to Senator Bennet who sits on the Senate Agriculture committee. 

I spoke with Bennet’s office on Tuesday of this week.  Seven days after the letter was sent, there still had been no follow-up, face-to-face meeting between Vilsack and Bennet.  The two men had not spoken although I was told that senior staff from both offices were in constant contact.  

I’ve also been in contact with Congresswoman Markey’s office.  As of late yesterday Markey’s office had not received a response from Vilsack. Farmers don’t have time to wait.  Planting season is here.  

Our congressional delegation needs to demonstrate that they can play hardball.  On my show yesterday, Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway (former chief of staff for Senator Wayne Allard) said that Bennet needs to demand a meeting with Vilsack and press him to make lines of credit available for area agricultural producers.  As a member of the Ag committee Bennet has the power to hold up key confirmations  if Vilsack doesn’t respond.  Conway said that is how Senators get things accomplished in Washington. 

Letters are nice.  They get some press and make it seem as if elected officials are actually doing something.  But without personal follow-up from Bennet to Vilsack, the wheels of government may grind too slowly to help agriculture in Weld County.  Conway also has been in contact with Colorado’s congressional delegation over the closure of NFB.

It appears that our congressional delegation suffers not from lack of trying but from lack of experience.  Neither Bennet, nor Udall nor Markey have any agricultural experience.   Nor do I for that matter but I do understand that we are out of time, and I didn’t promise to represent Weld County in Washington D.C. Staff for Bennet and Markey seem sincere but this situation is on the verge of becoming a catrostrophe.  (BTW — I give Markey press secretary Ben Marter a lot of credit for quickly returning my emails and phone calls)

Also, they are all freshman in their positions and both Bennet and Markey are brand new to Congress.  Bennet in particular doesn’t seem to know how to use his power as a member of the Senate Ag committee.  And Udall is MIA.  His office has not returned any phone calls.  When I called his  field representative, Greeley resident Pam Shaddock, she referred me to the same person who had not returned any of my previous messages.   He wasn’t on the conference call with Markey and Bennet.  Don’t bother with the USDA and Secretary Vilsack, callers wind up in a black hole of 85,000 employees who have no idea where Weld County is located.

Other banks and the FDIC are trying to fill to the massive void in credit for area farmers according to the Greeley Tribune but it may not be enough.

Our farmers and ranchers are not asking for a bail out.  They simply need the lines of credit that they lost through no fault of their own.  Other area banks are trying to help but don’t have enough capital.  There is no time left.  I hope our congressional delegation can prove they can play with the big boys (and girls).

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 4:59 am and is filed under agriculture, northern Colorado, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.