20
Almond Facts
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2016
“Last Tuesday’s presidential election results
were totally unexpected, unpredicted and no
one thought it was going to happen,” declared
Julian Heron of Tuttle Taylor Heron, Washington,
D.C. – based representatives for
Blue Diamond
and other cooperatives on federal policy and
regulations. Speaking at the annual huller/
sheller breakfast the morning of the annual
member meeting, Heron called the 2016
presidential election “a revolution of sorts.”
Sponsored by Duarte Nursery again this year, the annual
breakfast attracts more than 100 huller/sheller operators
to network and consider issues of interest to their industry.
This year, the presidential election was top of mind.
Heron explained the surprise results this way: “The silent
majority woke up, went to the polls and voted, and that is
something that had not happened in a long, long time, and it
made a real difference.”
Good for Agriculture
“The election was very good for agriculture and rural
America,” Heron declared. “The reason for that was that
rural America turned out in record numbers. Even though
the total turnout for the election was the lowest since 1996,
in the rural areas the turnout was huge. And by and large
Trump was supported in those areas. That accounted
for his victory in a number of states where he was not
expected to do well.”
Therefore, agriculture will have special importance not
only in the Trump administration, but also the Democrats
will be paying much closer attention to agriculture than
they have in the past, Heron observed. He pointed out
that the last time either party paid much attention to
rural areas was in the election of George Bush, Sr. “This
election will bring the parties back home and that will be
very good for us,” Heron said.
While many pundits have been criticizing the pre-election
polling, Heron points out “the polls were not very far off.
Up to the last week that the polling was covering, 80 to 85
percent of the voters had made up their mind which way
they intended to vote. But the large group of undecideds
remained undecided until the last week. During that last
week, they broke hard for Trump. The polls just couldn’t
pick that up.”
What Could Happen?
While it is impossible to say exactly how
policy will break for agriculture, some signs
look good. Some rural-state people are
being placed in positions of importance.
The president-elect supports renewable fuel
standards, which helps the corn industry. He
opposes the Trans Pacific Trade agreement,
which could be good for almonds if it is
approved. He wants to renegotiate NAFTA,
which if amended may or may not benefit
agriculture. He said he will use executive
action and regulatory oversight to overturn
some of the things Obama has done, such as
Waters of the US, which is vigorously opposed
by agriculture. That may be done soon.
Trump also said he would have farmers and
ranchers advising him on immigration policy
for agriculture, which could be very good for
California agriculture.
Overall, the election bodes well for our
industry, Heron concluded, but many
unknowns remain.
Huller/Shellers
Consider Election
Outcome
Blue Diamond’s federal
advocate provides insights
Julian Heron provides an
overview of the election
results at the annual breakfast.
