(NASHVILLE, TN) — As the new Trump administration is settling into office, the topics of trade, Farm Bill, the ag economy and more are on the minds of many agriculture stakeholders. That includes the National Sorghum Producers.
Speaking on Friday’s episode of Agriculture of America (AOA), National Sorghum Producers CEO Tim Lust talked about some of their priorities for the new administration and Congress. That includes the need to get a Farm Bill done.
“Well, I think that it’s drug on long enough,” said Lust. “(There are) obviously a lot of money issues and challenges there. Reconciliation in 2025, perhaps will help with some of that. Certainly, you know, even some of the things that were done at the end of the year in 2024, I think will help with that. So, between all of that, I do believe that there’s been a lot of policy work that’s been done. Really it’s now just a matter of kind of figuring out exactly where the dollars are and negotiating the deal.”
Lust added that “I am optimistic that we will get a farm bill done this year and certainly on behalf of agriculture, we need to get a farm bill done. A very challenging farm economy and very hard to go get financing when you don’t have a safety net that is providing any safety.”
In regards to trade, that is another area of concern for many in agriculture amid continued tariff threats by the administration. One country that hasn’t been talked about much though in recent months is India. Lust recently returned from a trade trip to the country and details some of what he saw while on the ground in India.
“You know, 20-25 years ago, really, we took a really serious look at India and you know, just wasn’t, time wasn’t right. And now this is my second trip in the last six months to India,” said Lust. “And every time I go, I get a little bit more excited about the potential and the urgency. We spent a lot of our time in India this time meeting with the poultry sector as well as the ethanol industry and with tremendous growth in the ethanol industry in India, certainly it is drastically changing feedstock availability and their poultry industry’s definitely feeling that.
Lust added that “you know, they talk about, well, we’re just not growing that fast, we’re only growing seven or 8% a year. When you look at the size and scope and the growth rates, a lot of opportunity for commodities going in there. And certainly sorghum is a non-GMO feedstock, which is an issue for them. It gives us a great opportunity to hopefully get into a market that will also be good for U.S. agriculture for a lot of other products longer term.”
When asked about the potential for a bigger trade deal between the U.S. and India with the new Trump administration’s talk of emphasizing trade, Lust mentioned how the first Trump administration got fairly close to a deal.
“I think it’s critical. We have a 50% tariff going into India, so that pretty well stops trade, because of that significant tariff. And we know that under Trump one, the end of Trump one, the government’s got fairly close. Maybe not a huge trade deal, but it was, it was a meaningful trade deal that they had worked on,” said Lust. “So we know there’s work that’s been done in the past and I believe that it makes total sense that it’d be one of the priorities as we go into discussions and negotiations on trade and we’re excited on what possibilities are there.”
You can hear the full conversation with National Sorghum Producers CEO Tim Lust from the Friday, January 24th episode of AOA below or wherever you download your favorite podcasts. The segment starts around the 9:30 mark of the podcast.