Like Montgomery pork producer Brian Pridgeon, more farmers should be welcoming legislators onto their farms.
This month, the Pridgeon family hosted Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) on their farm, which markets 75,000 hogs each year and grows more than 4,000 acres of corn, soybean and wheat. Pridgeon said it’s important politicians are up to speed on issues affecting them — like tariffs, the farm bill, and immigration.
“I think the beauty of having the Congressman out at the farm is that it gets him out of Washington, D.C., where he gets to see how people in this district are living and the challenges that we face in our industry,” Pridgeon said.
“It was a positive visit. Anytime you can tell the story of the farm and what’s going on in our industry that creates hardships or opportunities, the better shape we are in with those who represent us in Lansing and Washington.”
According to Pridgeon, Walberg listened to their concerns about low commodity prices.
There wasn’t an agenda, he said.
“We talked about tariffs, we talked about the farm bill, we talked about immigration, we talked about, frankly, low commodity prices and the necessity of foreign trade that could alleviate — or at least solve — some of those issues,” said Pridgeon, a Branch County Farm Bureau member.
That includes recent federal legislation.
In August, Walberg said the Trump administration’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill would support Michigan farmers, “cutting taxes for farmers by over $10 billion and permanently extending many important tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to empower family farms and our agricultural producers.”
A reconciliation package, The One Big, Beautiful Bill, also known as the Working Family Tax Cut, passed the Senate in July. The legislation includes major wins for agriculture, including expanding safety net programs, enhancing tax provisions, and extending and modifying the clean fuel production tax credit, known as 45Z.
"The recently passed Working Family Tax Cut included many benefits for our rural communities, particularly for our hardworking farmers, by cutting taxes, strengthening the farm safety net, and encouraging innovation,” Walberg said. “I continue to be a champion for farmers, ensuring they have the certainty and support needed to feed communities in Michigan and across the nation.”