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Can you afford not to?There's that old line, if you don't vote, you can't complain. I'm going to change that a bit. (You can do that when you are the one doing the writing.) If you don't participate, you can't complain. In other words, if you don't participate in the discussion about agriculture policy, you can't complain if things don't go your way. I've just decided that will be a new rule that we can all use. (You can do that, too, when you are the one writing.) Do you have a neighbor hanging on your pickup window complaining about animal ID? Ask him if he voiced his opinion during the livestock meeting. If the answer is no, hit the "up" button on the window and slowly drive off (we don't want to hurt anyone.) Is there discussion about payment limitations at your table at the local coffee shop? Ask if they participated in the policy of your state commodity group. If they say no, politely get up and move to the "out-of-towners" section. Right now, we are in the middle of agricultural convention season. cotton producers and Sorghum producers have recently finished their national meetings. Cattlemen, wheat, corn and soybean producers will soon be having theirs. This year is particularly an important year to stay engaged in the discussion. The farm bill will be crafted in the coming months and commodity and farm organizations play a key role in guiding legislators' decisions. Hopefully, you have been a part of the discussion on a local level. But if not, it isn't too late to get informed. The Journal knows how critical agriculture policy can be to each producer's bottom line. We also know that not all of you can afford the time and money it takes to get to a national convention. So we send our editors to those meetings to be your eyes and ears. Each day, during the meetings our website is updated with the latest stories and photos from the site of the conventions. If in-depth coverage on real paper is more your style, you can watch upcoming editions of the Journal for that. By staying informed, we hope that you will take the opportunity to voice your opinions on key issues for agriculture policy. Can you really afford not to participate? Holly Martin can be reached by phone at 1-800-452-7171 ext. 1806 or e-mail at hmartin@hpj.com. B 4 1/22/07 6 Star Midwest Ag Date: 1/17/07
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