If you’re not up to speed on MDIS – the Market Driven Inventory System being advocated for the next Farm Bill by the National Farmers Union, you should be – and so should your representatives in Congress.
MDIS is a farm program framework that smooths out market volatility and allows farmers to make their living on what they produce and not through government payments. NFU and the creators of MDIS, the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, have been working on research to show that MDIS would save taxpayers money by cutting direct government payments to farmers while continuing to provide a market stability-based security net.
“(MDIS) is an agricultural commodity program that mitigates price volatility, providing advantages to livestock producers, the biofuels industry, and to hungry people in this country and around the world. In addition, it would reduce government expenses, increase the value of crop exports, and maintain net farm income over time,” NFU President Roger Johnson recently told a Congressional committee.
Johnson and others have been educating Congress on MDIS, it’s time you learned more and joined the effort.
First:
Go to the MDIS page at the NFU website. Familiarize yourself with some of the basics and ask yourself, “What would this policy mean for my farm and my business?”
Then:
Contact your legislator and let them know in your own words why you support MDIS in the Farm Bill. In Ohio our U.S. Senators are Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman – they need to hear from you and know this is a serious, win-win policy proposal for farmers and taxpayers. Follwing this link will take you to a tool where you can determine who your member of Congress is and contact them as well. Use the zip code lookup.
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