Future of rural Kansas depends on farmers success
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Congressman Jerry Moran of Kansas spoke to farmers Tuesday during Ag Day in Marion.
Moran said the future of rural Kansas is dependent on farmers being successful. He noted the farm is one way to bring high school graduates back to their home communities.
According to Moran, Congress will cut at least by half the decreases in spending the president has proposed for agriculture.
He said his greatest challenge in the next two or three years is to keep the farm bill intact. It expires in 2007.
A more urban Congress, the large federal deficit, and demands from fruit and vegetable growers will create problems in formulating a new bill.
"We're going to have to find a way to accommodate farmers who raise fruits and vegetables within the confines of the resources we have," he said.
Moran also addressed the high cost of fuel.
"One of my greatest disappointments in Washington has been our failure to pass an energy bill," he said. "We spend billions of taxpayer dollars to make sure the oil keeps flowing from the Middle East."
Looking on the bright side, he said the use of ethanol and soy diesel are on the rise, providing a growing market for corn and soybeans.
Moran supports free trade with Cuba and doesn't see the Castro regime as a threat to the U.S.
"Economic freedom often leads to personal freedom," he said.
He also noted it's important to control costs of production to be competitive in the world. In addition, negotiations are ongoing to promote a more level playing field for American farmers, he said, by reducing the high levels of subsidies provided by other countries for their producers.
Terry Kastens, a lifelong farmer and K-State ag economist, talked about farm size.
He noted that larger farms can be more efficient than smaller farms, with lower costs and higher yields.
But he also said that small farms which are managed well can be successful.
"It's more important to be good than to be big," he said.
According to Kastens, the debt-to-asset ratio (no more than 40 percent) is more important than being out of debt, especially if a farmer wants to pass a profitable farm on to the next generation.
After a free lunch, farmers heard from marketing consultant Tom Leffler and received crop insurance and livestock risk protection updates.
The event was sponsored by Central National Bank and Jerry Cady Agency.
