I came across Helena Bottemiller Evich’s article in Politico from Spring 2015 about an upcoming GOP political gathering at Iowa State Fairgrounds. I was interested because one of the topics to be addressed was agricultural issues. With all the other issues confronting us today (health care, immigration, terrorism) it seemed worthwhile to discuss farm issues. Everyone at the time agreed that there was a downside – there were fewer farmers and, therefore, not much necessity to address their problems. It’s been this way for some time. I can remember going to Audubon, Iowa for my father’s funeral in 1998 and back again for my mother’s funeral in 2006. Many of the properties we passed were not run by farm families. but by companies who placed a manager in charge of several properties. The actual work was performed by machinery and the manager’s job was to see that everything was done on time. Twenty years ago it was the new American landscape. More machinery; fewer people.
The farmers who remain deserve to have a voice.