National Association of Counties President George Dunlap announced his appointments to NACo committees during the organization’s annual conference last month in New Orleans. Among the appointees …
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National Association of Counties President George Dunlap announced his appointments to NACo committees during the organization’s annual conference last month in New Orleans. Among the appointees was Audrain County Associate Commissioner Leslie Meyer, who was named chair of NACo’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Steering Committee.
“I am honored to have been chosen,” she said. “I was always taught that if you did not have a seat at the table, it meant you were probably on the menu. This role gives Audrain County a seat at the table at the federal level.”
Meyer has spent the past four years involved with NACo’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Steering Committee, including three years as a vice chair. This year, she also authored two resolutions focused on decreasing input costs for production agriculture and one addressing low grain prices for the nation’s farmers. Both resolutions encourage the federal government to invest in new markets, research new products that will utilize USA-grown crops, reduce tariffs on fertilizers and chemicals, implement fail-proof reporting for USDA market reports, and lift restrictive regulations to encourage more domestic production of fertilizers.
“In Audrain County, like most of the country, our producers are hurting,” she explained. “Last fall, farmers received the same amount for a bushel of corn that my dad received in the early 1980s. The difference is that my dad profited 93 cents per bushel. Today, because input costs have increased so significantly, farmers are losing 76 cents per bushel of corn. Something must give, or our country will lose even more family farms.”
As the largest membership organization for counties, parishes and boroughs across the United States, NACo works through policy steering committees that set priorities for lobbying in Washington, D.C., and work with federal agencies to develop and promote opportunities for county residents. As chair of this committee, Meyer will focus on issues affecting agriculture and rural counties.
“Through our membership in NACo, our elected officials have brought opportunities and resources back to Audrain County to assist our residents and municipal leaders,” she said. “This committee involvement will allow us to have meaningful and impactful conversations with federal leaders who can enact positive change for the benefit of Audrain County residents and people across the country.”
