As we move forward into our harvest, it has been a growing season of mixed conditions, to say the least. In talking with many of our farm families throughout the state, I see that there are those with banner crops and others who have struggled from start to finish.

I don’t need to recap what most of you have experienced from a wet May to drought conditions through much of the late summer, to a tropical storm that swept through the state last month.

Producing our crops this year, from a weather perspective, is just one of the challenges we have faced. Low commodity prices, coupled with continued high inputs and export markets that have been as dry as the summer drought have left many producers facing uncertainties. And then there’s the challenge of getting the most important piece of legislation for agriculture across the finish line.

As we draw closer to election day, we seem to get further away from the passage of a Farm Bill.  Even so, we have and will continue insisting that Congress get our agriculture industry this critical piece of legislation.  We are at a point in this present-day farm economy where we need the provisions included in the bill more than ever before, and every day we delay passage is one more day of concern for an already weary ag community.

As important as agriculture is to the very existence of us all, it makes no sense to me that politics takes precedence over principle. It’s not that we want this legislation, we need it, all of us need it, not just farmers and those who depend on the ag industry to make a living.

By the time you read this column, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether a decision will have been made as to the fate of getting a farm bill passed this year or waiting until a new Congress takes over. I assure you we have done everything we possibly could to move forward on this issue during the current Congressional session.

Unfortunately, many lawmakers seem to have had bigger fish to fry while farm families have been put in a holding pattern.  This should come as no surprise given how few members of Congress have close ties to agriculture today. If there is a silver lining to all this, it would be that Kentucky has legislators at all levels who understand the vital nature of our ag industry and the most important piece of legislation associated with it. They have our most heart-felt gratitude for their efforts.

For the other Congressional leaders who have chosen to not move forward on this issue, they must understand one thing: the people who produce the food we all eat need a comprehensive bill that will help ensure we stay in the business of producing our own food. Let’s get this thing done.

By the way, it is possible to pass laws in a lame-duck session. So, to paraphrase our American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, we've kicked this can down the road long enough.  

Let’s exercise some common sense instead of just kicking the can and make this happen. Our farm families depend on it, our rural communities and agri-businesses depend on it, and ultimately every last person in this country and beyond depends on it…whether they know it or not.

Eddie Melton, President
Kentucky Farm Bureau