CHS Director Steve Riegel, Chairman David Bielenberg and Vice President, Government Affairs, John Engelen met U.S. House Speaker John Boehner at a Washington, D.C., event.

Five CHS Directors headed to Capitol Hill in March to share the company’s positions on key issues with members of Congress and key administration leaders.

While their primary focus was urging support for legislation increasing the tax on barge fuel to support inland waterways infrastructure (see related story below), they also shared CHS concerns about recent tax reform proposals and expressed its support for ongoing trade initiatives.

The group included CHS Chairman David Bielenberg, Oregon; CHS Board Legislative Committee Chairman Steve Riegel, Kansas; and directors Bob Bass, Wisconsin; Jon Erickson and Steve Fritel, both of North Dakota.

“Because we’re active farmers, we can bring an important real-life perspective to Washington that supports the company’s legislative priorities,” Riegel said.

The group, joined in their Capitol Hill calls by CHS Government Affairs team members, focused their messages on U.S. Senate Finance Committee members who have jurisdiction over tax and trade legislation. CHS has long advocated for increasing the user fee paid into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund as an investment in the future of the system. As the leading nation's cooperative, directors also carried important messages about the treatment of cooperatives in recent tax proposals.

In addition, directors also participated in a wide-ranging meeting with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack that included a discussion of CHS opportunities to assist in educating producers on new choices they will need to make under the 2014 Farm Bill. The directors offered the company’s assistance and emphasized its ability to reach 600,000 farmer-owners nationwide. Vilsack queried the board members on CHS role in recruiting returning veterans and discussed preliminary results of the 2012 Census of Agriculture.

A group later met with Deputy USDA Undersecretary Darci Vetter who is currently awaiting Senate confirmation to serve as Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. They discussed pending trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership which both represent opportunities for CHS to increase exports to those regions. Directors also shared insight from recent trips to Asia and South America.

CHS Directors and CHS Government Affairs Staff discuss the 2014 Farm Bill with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.