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KFB officers make annual trip to Washington, D.C."Maybe if we moved the Capitol to Kansas we could have an FSA office in Gove County," Sen. Roberts said. By Doug Rich "This could be a golden era for agriculture and rural America, but we will not preserve our way of life by sitting on our hands," Sen. Sam Brownback R-KS said. Sen. Brownback was speaking to a group of Kansas Farm Bureau members who spent March 11 to 15 in Washington, D.C., not sitting on their hands but wearing out some shoe leather on Capitol Hill. More than 100 people participated in the County Farm Bureau Presidents annual trip to Washington. During their brief visit to Washington they visited with the entire Kansas delegation, members of the House and Senate ag committee, in addition to the United State Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency representatives. They joined a similar group of Farm Bureau members from Missouri for a combined meeting on March 13 at U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters. Justin Knopf, who is part of a family farm operation with his dad and brother in Saline County, Kan., made his first trip to Washington as part of the Farm Bureau group. Knopf said he did not have a specific issue to promote, but he wanted to represent agriculture as a whole. "There are so few of us choosing to make our living and our lifestyle here in rural Kansas," Knopf said. "There are many issues important to that lifestyle. That was my goal coming here to represent that lifestyle." "I think I have gained a greater awareness of how complicated this whole system is and how something like disaster aid can be tied to funding for the troops in Iraq," Knopf said. "It makes no sense at all. I have a greater awareness of how politicized the issues can become and how frustrating that can be for the guys that have to work through these issues on a day to day basis." Rep. Jerry Moran R-KS said there has been an attempt to tie the emergency supplemental legislation to funding for the war in Iraq. Rep. Moran said he would rather have a clean vote on just the disaster aid package without any other amendments. "I don't think we should put strings on this money," said Rep. Kenny Hulshof R-MO. "We are not going to get a clean vote on this issue. Other issues will be tied to it. Jim Dooley, a cash grain farmer from Jewell County, Kan., was making his fourth trip to Washington as part of the Farm Bureau County Presidents group. His first trip was in 1984, but this is the first time he has made the trip when the debate for a brand new farm bill was underway. "This trip shows that we are concerned enough that we will take the time to come to Washington and emphasize the needs of rural America and spending for rural America and continuation and improvement of the farm bill," Dooley said. Dooley said that he believes the Kansas delegation certainly does listen to their concerns. "They make time to meet with us, but when we go out on the Hill later to meet with congressmen that serve on the ag committee from other states we have had vary reactions," Dooley said. "They have probably already heard from their home state Farm Bureau people and it is probably a similar message, but it does reinforce it for them. We are here to promote Kansas Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau policy as approved by our voting delegates." In addition to the disaster aid legislation and the farm bill many of the Kansas Farm Bureau members were concerned about the closing of several Farm Service Agency offices in the state. "This is the biggest current issue in my life," Rep. Moran said. "My fear is that this is just the first step. You will all face this in the future." Kansas Farm Bureau policy on this topic says: Streamlining is acceptable only when efforts are being made to allow for improved service delivery methods which include increasing access to and improving the quality of technology. Upgrades to the current system are critical. "Maybe if we moved the Capitol to Kansas we could get an FSA office in Gove County," Sen. Pat Roberts R-KS said. Whenever a group of farmers gets together these days the meeting is not complete without the mention of biofuels and the Farm Bureau trip to Washington was no exception. "I know ethanol is a religion in Iowa," Sen. Roberts said. "But what if we have a drought in one of the 'I' states. Lets be careful as we go down this road." "We talk about switchgrass all the time here and I am not sure anyone knows what it is," Rep. Moran said. Rep. Moran noted that livestock producers are concerned about the high price of corn and that others are concerned about the amount of water needed to produce biofuels. There were plenty of issues for the Farm Bureau County Presidents to discuss with their legislators but the central theme seemed to be how will they stay on the land and maintain their way of life. "What are we going to do to preserve rural America if people are not farming the land," Rep. Moran said. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com. B 1 4/2/07 2 Star EK Date: 3/29/07
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