The president of the Minnesota Corn Growers told the House Agriculture Committee Tuesday that farmers in her state and across the country need the support of a reauthorized and strengthened farm bill.

“Unless conditions change, I believe we’re heading into a perfect storm, a storm that I don’t think will be fully appreciated until early next year when farmers try to get loans but are unable to do so because they cannot demonstrate the ability to cash flow,” said Dana Allen-Tully, Ph.D., owner of a diversified family farm near Eyota, Minnesota, speaking on behalf of the National Corn Growers Association and state groups.

“We have to have policies in place that reflect the realities of farming today,” Allen-Tully said. The stakes of farming are so incredibly high – higher than I ever remember them to be. We are putting everything we have on the line every single year for very thin and oftentimes negative margins.”

Allen-Tully said she is concerned about the opportunities for ethanol to be used for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) being taken away from U.S. producers by Brazil and China. “The sustainable aviation fuel space is one of the most exciting thing we have coming as a corn farmer and right now how the Treasury has their guidance written it would exclude us,” she replied in answer to a question from Rep. Eric Sorenson (D-IL).