“The American Farm Bureau Federation congratulates President Barack Obama on his re-election, as well as those candidates elected to serve during the 113 ^th session of Congress. A number of important issues lie ahead of us, both for our nation, and for American agriculture. It is vital that, under the president’s leadership, all our elected officials come together in a bipartisan fashion to resolve the challenges we face.

“Farmers and ranchers, like all Americans, have a list of issues that they are relying on the administration and Congress to address. But we cannot wait until 2013 for the action to start. Serious work on the farm bill, the fiscal cliff and critical tax policy fixes all must start during the lame duck session of the 112^th Congress.

“Farm Bureau also looks forward to working in a cooperative and positive manner with the Obama administration and the new Congress on issues such as turning around our economy, ensuring agriculture an adequate labor supply, pursuing a trade agenda focused on reducing barriers and expanding exports and the continued fiscal challenges we face as a nation. There are many points of view on these issues, but we also know that our elected leaders have one thing in common: each ran on a platform to make America better and improve this country for all Americans.

“We will do our part to help identify opportunities for cooperation, not only to improve the lives of Farm Bureau members and their rural communities, but for all Americans proudly served by our farm and ranch families.”

Source: Press release courtesy of American Farm Bureau Federation