I want readers to understand that as corn and soybean prices continue to fall because of Chinese tariffs and a big crop, there is a no-cost, one-year proven farm policy option for our farmers to use. I call it the Roebke Plan. Congress can simply attach it to the 2018 Farm Bill or President Donald Trump can administer it as an executive order to support farm prices.
The Roebke Plan moves all nationwide E-10 gasoline pumps to E-11 immediately. This would consume an additional 500 million bushels of 2018 crop corn and lower gasoline prices by 1 cent per gallon. It also would raise USDA nine-month commodity inventory loan collateral amounts by 1.55 percent for the 2018 crop. This hasn't been adjusted in over two decades by Congress. This would give farmers cash flow this fall in time for sound marketing management without more subsidies.
So, USDA corn loans move to $3.03 per bushel, wheat to $4.55 per bushel, and soybeans to $7.75 per bushel - for all U.S. farmers. This would allow farmers the right to extend the above loan option for an additional nine months on up to 25 percent of their historical crop production, as a crop-marketing reserve.
There'd be no cost to taxpayers, for these loans would be recourse loans and have a 1 percent higher annual interest rate than present USDA loans (that are really only used by sugar and peanut farmers today).
So it's out there, taxpayers - as elected officials, universities and farm groups do nothing.
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Alan Roebke
Alexandria, Minn.
