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Sebelius experiences farm life during tour
By Kylene Orebaugh
A birth of a baby calf. The wet feeling of an opened cotton boll. Towering wind mills. Thousands upon thousands of cattle at a feedyard.
Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius visited Gray County Aug. 24 during the Kansas Farm Bureau Governor's Farm and Ranch Tour, and received first hand exposure of what life is like for farmers and ranchers on the other side of the state.
Sebelius recognized the importance of the day as well as the incredible importance of rural issues--acknowledging the priority of beef, tourism, rural health care and education have in Gray County.
The tour started with breakfast at the Gray County 4-H building and included a panel discussion of rural development in the county. Following breakfast, owners of the Cimarron Dairy Tim and Pat Dewey hosted participants through a tour of the facility, including the barns, the milking parlor and the calving/birthing barn. From the dairy, the group then got a taste of the cattle industry at the Gray County Feed Yard where Manager David Ast answered questions about the feeding business and animal ID concerns. Lunch was served at the Morningside Community Church in Montezuma, and following lunch, visitors explored the Gray County Wind Energy Center, where Florida Power and Light officials explained the key points about the joint venture that provides Aquila with enough power to electrify 33,000 homes. The tour finished the day at the farm of Greg and Sue Love of Montezuma. Love grows cotton and detailed the trials and tribulations he has had with the relatively new crop in western Kansas.
During the luncheon, Sebelius described the impact beef has on Kansas.
"At the feed yard, it's easy to see how important the cattle industry is," Sebelius said. "The BSE (bovine spongiform encephlopathy) scare has sent shockwaves across the beef cattle industry."
After the BSE discovery in December 2003 Sebelius has joined other governors to help with lifting various international bans against U.S. beef and even joined a tour of a Great Bend feed yard with Japanese leaders recently, she said.
"I know this had a positive impact," she said about the Japanese visit. "I am happy to be the face for Kansas beef. We are working to do everything we can."
Hunting was also discussed by the Kansas governor during the luncheon, noting the large number of walk-in access hunting areas across the state--totaling some 1 million acres. Researchers have said that when people want to visit Kansas, they want the "Kansas Experience," or to see prairie, experience rural life and have a farming experience.
"Hunting in Kansas is a great opportunity to draw additional income (for the state)," she said. "I'm pleased to work with legislators on this."
Water was another hot topic of the day, along with energy.
"I heard this mentioned several times today," Sebelius said. "I think a balanced approach makes the most sense."
And balancing is what Sebelius has tried to do, adding a new water director for the state as well as working on an energy policy--something Kansas really doesn't have, she said.
Kylene Orebaugh can be reached by phone at 620-227-1804 or by e-mail at korebaugh@hpj.com.
Date: 8/26/04
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