Digging Deeper ...

Having prevailed over a field of 135 cities and regions all contending to become the new home for USDA’s Economic Research Service and National Institute for Food and Agriculture, the Missouri/Kansas  organizers behind the effort to land ERS and NIFA in the KC area were entitled to take a breather. To smell the roses, strut a little. That wasn’t the case, though. Kimberly Young, president of the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, told Agricultural Business Council members at the July 11 social hour at Stockyards Brewery, that the morning after the June 14 announcement, the real work was about to begin. On day one, she said her KCAHC team and the Kansas City Area Development Council uploaded a website for ERS and NIFA employees carrying dedicated information about housing, schools, churches, special needs services, community services, real estate – the list goes on – to make the transition easier for staff choosing  to relocate. 

The Hard Work Begins

Announcing the relocation last month of the ERS and NIFA from Washington D.C. to metropolitan Kansas City, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said, “We did not take these relocations lightly.” He was talking about the disruption it was causing some in the USDA rank and file, as well  others who were defending the Belt Way culture in general.  

Heartland agriculture and animal health leaders aren’t brushing aside the magnitude and challenge of the move, either. That’s why KCAHC president Kimberly Young and Tim Cowden, CEO of KCADC, and their organizations have been working for more than a month with USDA’s  ERS and NIFA staffers who have decided to move. The campaign entails an all-encompassing effort from about 300 local and regional organizations, groups, companies and universities that will make it easier for the ERS and NIFA and their employees to make the transition from the Belt Way to the Heartland.

The entire KC region has stepped up in a big way to ease the transition for ERS and NIFA employees who choose to make the move, notes KCAHC director Emily McVey. “In addition to designated relocation specialists, businesses from across the region are offering millions of dollars in exclusive discounts and complementary services including banks, schools, housing, auto, sports and entertainment, shopping and dining and employment services for ERS and NIFA employees and their families”

In response to USDA’s announcement that the Kansas City had been selected as the ERS and NIFA new home offices, KCAHC/KCADCorganizers said they were committed to being USDA’s partner during the entire relocation process and were ready to welcome the ERS and NIFA teams and “introducing them to KC’s incredible culture, robust scientific community and unprecedented access to the research, farm, agribusiness and financial customers they serve.”

Push Back

It is not an exaggeration to say the Kansas City region – with an almost two-century-old culture of farming and animal husbandry, its existing ag industry infrastructure and heavy concentration of animal health companies and its current deep federal footprint with the presence of a Federal Reserve Bank regional headquarters and 5,000 USDA employees and contractors already located in the area – was a shoe-in for selection.  (See “Box Score of a Successful Bid”)

Naysayers, however, have questioned the move. In May when the field of 136 candidate areas was narrowed to three sites, ERS employees voted to unionize in protest of the move. Many of them turned their backs on USDA Sec. Perdue during an employee meeting about the relocation.  Cynics in the media and inside the Belt Way seemed delighted to run headlines like this: “Fewer Than Half of USDA Workers Will Follow Agency to Kansas City,” KC Star, July 16, 2019. Other outlets ran stories with leads highlighting that the promised 500 jobs ERS and NIFA would bring would be more like 150 or so. What wasn’t thoroughly reported, however, is that USDA has encountered high staff turnover Washington D.C. in recent years because of high living costs and long commutes to work, according to Animal Pharm News, June 14, 2019. Further, reported AFN,  90% of USDA employees are already located outside the D.C. area

But local KCAHC/KCADC leaders pushed back, indicating the 500 jobs indeed would materialize. They pointed out that 13 land-grant universities and other research institutions in the region will annually produce top talent to fill key positions vacated by ERS/NIFA staff that did not take the option to move. “No one location in the U.S. offers a similar cluster of land grant access and diversity,” they said. “In 2017, these institutions granted more than a 150 PhDs in agricultural-related fields.”

Executive director of the American Statistical Association Ron Wasserstein wrote a Special to the Star op-ed piece, July 18, 2019, saying “when you add up all the evidence, we reach the conclusion that the USDA’s motivation is to sharply reduce the research the ERS produces.”  

But again, the KCAHC/KCADC team argues that themove out of D.C. is designed to make USDA the most effective, efficient and customer-focused department in the entire federal government. “What better place to do that than an affordable location like Kansas City in the epicenter of global agriculture? The KC region has a robust scientific research community, specifically as it relates to agriculture.”

As for their concerns about being detached from Washington D.C. and without direct access to lawmakers, skeptical ERS and NIFA staffers are being assured by Kansas City promoters of the relocation that they will not be isolated. The federal government is the largest employer in the Kansas City area – with 5,000 USDA employees and another 35,000 federal employees who work for 150 federal agencies across the metro. Also, notes the KC team, Missouri and Kansas  have a federal union presence with nearly 9% union membership in both states.  

What’s more, Atlanta-based CDC is a large, well-funded federal agency that operates effectively outside of the Washington D.C. area. And speaking of funding, the debt and budget deal struck last week by President Trump and Congressional leaders – to  revise the caps on defense and nondefense discretionary appropriations for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 to allow for higher amounts of funding than is permitted under current law caps and budget enforcement procedures – should work in Sec. Perdue’s favor. 

Some Congressional House members were hoping to cut allocations USDA would have needed to relocate ERS/NIFA to the Heartland. That’s not likely, at this point. What is likely, though, is what KCAHC’s Kimberly Young emphasized at the happy hour earlier in the month: The move is going to happen.

Dennis McLaughlin
McLaughlin Writers LLC 

Box Score of a Successful Bid

Compiled by  
Kansas City Area Development Council and  Kansas City Animal Health Corridor

According to a USDA cost-benefit analysis, conservative estimates show the selection of the Kansas City region for the new home of its Economic Research Services and National Institute for Food and Agriculture will result in savings of around $300 million over a 15-year lease term on employment costs and rent – about $20m per year. These savings will allow the USDA to increase funding for research, as well as retain programs and employees – "even in the face of tightening budgets.”

• WHY KC

  • Because of Kansas City’s 100+ year legacy of leadership in the agriculture and animal health industries, this decision feels like a homecoming for the USDA. The USDA’s core strengths match the Kansas City region’s: agriculture, technology, engineering, finance, logistics, customer service and more.

  • Kansas City is already home to more than a dozen USDA agency operations. More than 5,000 USDA employees and contractors work in Kansas City for operations such as the Office of Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service and the Farm Service Agency. The Kansas City area also boasts 35,000 federal employees, and a robust Federal Executive Board serving the metro’s 150 federal agencies. 

  • With 56% of total worldwide animal health, diagnostics and pet food sales and 300+ animal health companies, the Kansas City region is home to the KC Animal Health Corridor (KCAHC). Major companies with a presence in the region include Bayer Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim, Hills Pet Nutrition and Merck Animal Health.

  • Located in the middle of the Heartland, Kansas City is within 300 miles of 13 land-grant universities as well as top research universities. No one location in the United States offers a similar cluster of land grant access and diversity.In 2017, these institutions graduated more than 150 PhDs in an agriculturally-related field.

• KC’s RESEARCH CAPABILITIES

  • National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF) – USDA’s foremost animal disease research facility in Manhattan, Kansas. Opening 2022-2023.

  • Kansas State University - a land-grant university and one of the leading ag research institutions in the nation. Discoveries at K-State have led to innovation in food science and safety; animals and animal systems; and plants and crop systems. 

  • University of Missouri – the College of Ag, Food and Natural Resources provides research, blends traditional and high-tech policy and directly impacts the future.

  • Kansas City is in the heart of the National Security Crossroads – a multi-state initiative aimed at retaining and expanding existing federal national security missions in the Heartland. 

  • Within the National Security Crossroads, there are seven major military bases covering the Air Force, Arm and Navy branches. There are also six national security installations where they focus on the following: geospatial-intelligence, net-centric solutions, non-nuclear component manufacturing, combined arms preparations, strategic attack deterrents and bio-threat prevention. 

  • MRI Global – research, technology development and technical services for government programs in Kansas City, Missouri. 

  • Stowers Institute for Medical Research – world-class biomedical research organization in Kansas City, Missouri, dedicated to improving human health by studying the fundamental processes of life.

  • Kansas City has invested in its technology infrastructure. The city has the world’s most connected Smart City program with free wi-fi across 50 square blocks downtown, smart streetlights along a two-mile stretch of the new KC Streetcar line and 25 interactive kiosks to engage citizens.

• KC’s RESOURCES

  • The KC region has a robust scientific research community, specifically as it relates to agriculture.

  • Kansas City is within 300 miles of 13 land-grant universities as well as top research universities. No one location in the United States offers a similar cluster of land grant access and diversity.

  • In 2017, these institutions graduated more than 150 PhDs in an agriculturally-related field.

  • Kansas City is also home to the world’s largest concentration of animal health industry assets, putting the USDA at the global epicenter of livestock health and food safety.

• COMMUNITY SUPPORT

  • KC’s’s cost of living is below the national average, and average sales price of a home in KC is less than half of the average home price in Washington D.C. and its suburbs. 

  • The KC MSA has experienced a positive net migration of 12,103 from 2016-2017, greater than Boston, Chicago, LA, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

  • KC has all of the amenities of a large city, with a strong tech economy and revitalized downtown core.

  • KC has invested in its technology infrastructure, and has the world’s most connected Smart City program with free wi-fi across 50 square blocks downtown, smart streetlights along a two-mile stretch of the new KC Streetcar line and 25 interactive kiosks to engage citizens.

  • More than 130 elected officials, civic organizations, economic development and private sector partners came together to support the KC region’s bid for the USDA ERS and NIFA offices. There is no other community that can galvanize that kind of collaboration across two states and 18 counties – and we will bring that same support to the table in assisting the USDA with their relocation to the KC market.

  • The KC MSA has experienced a positive net migration of 12,103 from 2016-2017, greater than Boston, Chicago, LA, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

  • Announced just this week, Kansas City is the first of four cities where Sprint is rolling out 5G service, covering 225 square miles of Kansas City.

  • Kansas City is invested in sustainability. One example, the regional utility, KCP&L has installed the largest operating clean charging station network in the United States, with more than 1,000 units placed throughout four of the metro counties in the region. Since deployment of the clean charge network began in 2015, the metropolitan area has experienced a 95 percent increase in electric vehicle adoption.

After the Harvest partners with farmers to feed hungry people in Greater Kansas City

The sad facts are: People are going hungry. Families, children and seniors are going without healthy food. And an astounding 52% of fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S. go to waste before reaching consumers.  

An organization in Kansas City, Missouri is addressing these issues on a grass roots level: After the Harvest partners with farmers to rescue nutritious fruits and vegetables from going to wasteand donates them to agencies that serve hungry people, primarily in Greater Kansas City. 

Their volunteers “glean” after the harvest, picking what’s left in local farmers’ fields—as well as gardens and orchards—and picking up already harvested leftover produce directly from farms and farmers markets.

After the Harvest connects the farmers’ excess to people who need it, preventing fruits and vegetables from rotting in the field or ending up in the dumpster.

“Farmers don’t have time to locate food pantries or soup kitchens that will take our produce on an hour’s notice,” says farmer Lee Karbaumer. “We certainly don’t have time to deliver it somewhere. After the Harvest does that for us. And they even come harvest it when we don’t have time to do that, either.” 

“To learn about After the Harvest was very important to us,” Karbaumer continues, “because all of a sudden there was something very useful we could do with our (leftover) produce. They connect our food to hungry people and that’s the best thing that can be done with it.”

Moreover, knowing After the Harvest will pick up the extra after the farmers market, is a win/win for farmers. Said farmer Dave Redfearn,  “One of the challenges with farmers market sales is that it is difficult to harvest the perfect quantity of produce each week.” He says if you harvest too little, you miss out on sales and if you harvest too much, there’s waste.  

But now, he said, knowing After the Harvest will pick up the excess, “we harvest extra of everything, taking larger quantities to market. Devoting a little extra time to harvest increases our sales potential while allowing us to give away a larger quantity each week.” 

After the Harvest also raises funds to go outside our region to secure semi-truckloads of donated produce that might end up in landfills, primarily destined for Harvesters—The Community Food Network. After the Harvest is the largest local produce donor to Harvesters, serving 26 counties in the area. This unique partnership gives Harvesters access to produce that would otherwise not be available to them. 

In 2018, 153 farmers and growers—133 local growers and 20 truckload growers—

donated their excess produce to After the Harvest. Over the last five years, After the Harvest has provided over 16.7 million pounds of this healthy, nutritious produce to feed their hungry neighbors. 

To learn more about After the Harvest, please visit them at https://aftertheharvestkc. 

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Help After the Harvest rescue produce from growers’ fields, orchards and gardens and from farmers markets! Join the thousands of other volunteers who are committed to preventing produce from going to waste and providing that healthy food to hungry people in the Great Kansas City area.

Council Touts KC Location to USDA Employees

June 26, 2019

USDA NIFA-ERS Employees --

I look forward to welcoming you to Kansas City.  In July of 2000, we sold our home near the West Falls Church metro stop in the Virginia suburbs and moved to Kansas City.  It has been a wonderful adventure.

Let me share a few things you will find if you choose to make this transition.

• Your housing dollar will buy you a lot more in Kansas City and its suburbs.  In fact, you may likely be in the position to put some of the difference in the bank or add to your youngster’s college fund. And, even on a bad day, most commuters never spend more than 30 minutes traveling to and from their office.

• The KC metro region has many nice neighborhoods with great diversity, people, activities, housing styles, and more.

• Our public schools in the suburban neighborhoods are among the best you will find anywhere.

• Downtown Kansas City is enjoying a huge renaissance.  Young people in particular are flocking to the downtown area to live. And, all ages are enjoying The Power & Light District -- developed by the Cordish Company, the same folks who re-developed Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

  • Entertainment areas are not limited to the downtown.  A little further south, in the mid-town area there is Crown Center, Union Station, and Martini Corner.  I live in an old neighborhood within walking distance of Martini Corner.  

  • Even further south is The Plaza.  It is our version of Rodeo Drive with trendy shopping and upscale restaurants.

  • And then there are Westport, Brookside, and Fairway, and many other neighborhoods with their own style and flare for entertainment, shopping, dining and more. There are many, many good choices.

• Colleges and Universities – Kansas City is located within 300 miles of 13 different Land-Grant Universities.  And three hours or less from the University of Missouri, Kansas State, Iowa State and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

• Thinking of the arts, we have that, too.  The Nelson-Atkins Museumof Art is known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art. (Wikipedia) Many of us think the new Kauffman Center for the Preforming Arts rivals the Kennedy Center as a venue.

• Professional sports here are fun to follow.  We have great aspirations for Patrick Mahomes and The Chiefs.  The MLS Sporting Kansas City Club is fun to watch. And we know the Royals will regain their World Series form.  A bit of Kansas City Royals trivia – the Royals are named after The American Royal Livestock and Horse Show, a 120-year old Midwest icon.  The American Royal is also home to the world’s largest barbecue competition.

• Did someone say barbecue?  Well, we have it in Kansas City.  Over 100 joints – yes, authentic barbecue is served in “joints.”  It is the best barbecue in the nation with styles and flavors for every taste.

• While I am thinking food and drink, we seem to have a new brewery opening every weekend. And the distilling scene is pretty cool, too.  Stop at Tom’s Town Distillery on your next trip.  For music, well Knuckleheads Saloon by the railroad tracks is where a lot of name acts stop.

Those are a few highlights. There are many others I could list.  

In looking back on our transition from The Nation’s Capitol area, there is one thing I do miss -- Maryland-style crab cakes are more difficult to find here.  You can find them – The Bristol comes to mind – but not as easily. 

We realize a re-location of this nature can be disruptive to families.  We hope you will choose to give Kansas City a chance as your future home.  I believe you will come to enjoy the area and all it has to offer as much as my family and me.  Please know there is a vibrant agriculture community here that looks forward to welcoming you.

Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Bob Petersen
Executive Director

>>Link to KC Star Letter to the Editor here. 

Agricultural Business Council Honors Two Agribusiness Leaders

May 17, 2019, KANSAS CITY, MO: The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City honored two of the region’s leading agricultural figures on May 16 at a luncheon in the Chamber Board Room in Kansas City’s historic Union Station. The honorees – Lee Borck, chairman of Innovative Livestock Services (ILS) and Beef Marketing Group Cooperative (BMG) and farm broadcasting legend Gene Millard of Millard Family Farms – received the Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence, the Council’s highest recognition. Both men have each left their marks on the ag industry over careers extending nearly 50 years.

Council Chairman Robert Thompson, a partner and co-leader of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP’s Food & Agribusiness Industry Group, described this year’s Dillingham Awards recipients as strong examples of what being an advocate for agriculture can accomplish. “These individuals have had a positive and lasting effect on our community.”

Lee Borck was introduced as “an industry icon” by Dee Likes, himself a Dillingham Award honoree in 2015. In his remarks as he accepted the award, Borck said real success in any business endeavor involves doing the right things and ensuring benefits from accomplishments touch everyone in the community. He also stressed that American agriculture has to better tout its accomplishments to the world and will need to adjust its messaging to reflect that it is no longer a commodity industry but a branded one that deserves equitable pricing for the value it creates.

Gene Millard offered a similar assessment of agriculture saying most consumers have a gross underestimation of the value crop growers and livestock producers provide. “Agriculture is a value-added business,” he pointed out, “nothing comes off the fields without a farmer having added value to it.”

Opening the program, John Dillingham, son of Jay B. Dillingham, told Council members that the Kansas City region, situated as it is on the Missouri River, flowing into and from the Mississippi and Kaw Rivers, and connected to coastal ports via rail and highway has an opportunity to become the Silicon Valley of agriculture.

About The Honorees:

• Lee Borck- Chairman of Innovative Livestock Services, Inc., and Chairman of the Beef Marketing Group Cooperative. Combined, these two groups representing cattle feedlots in Kansas and Nebraska, have grown into one of the nation’s largest feeding organizations. As a standalone organization, ILS represents banking, farming, ethanol production and trucking interests. The BMG, under the guidance and leadership of Borck and other central Kansas cattle producers, is a cooperative of cattle producers and farms focused on working together to do what is right to remain sustainable. Borck is also chairman of American State Bank of Great Bend, Kansas and is the past President of Cattle-Fax, which is the nation’s leading cattle and data analysis company. Borck has served the industry as president of the Kansas Livestock Association, and has also served as a board member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Board. He served as the Chairman of the Kansas 4-H Foundation and was Vice Chairman and a board member for the Kansas Bioscience Authority. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kansas State University Foundation. Borck has received numerous industry awards

• Gene Millard- Millard Family Farms. Millard retired in 2003 after a nearly 40-year career in Radio and Farm broadcasting. He joined KFEQ radio in St. Joseph in 1964 as a farm broadcaster and in 1976 he was named the station’s general manager. In 1999 he became vice president of Eagle Radio Inc. which included stations KFEQ, KSJQ, KKJO, KSFT and the Ag Info Center. In retirement he continues to host a one-hour live show each Saturday on a 15 station, 5 state network including KFEQ. In addition to operating his family farm with his son, Brian, Millard currently serves as Chairman of the board of Golden Triangle Energy LLC and a board member of Citizens Bank and Trust in Kansas City. He has served as President of the Missouri Broadcasters Association, a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters, Chairman of the Board of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, President of the Missouri Kansas Chapter of the National Agri Marketing Association and served as Director of Marketing and Interim Executive of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. In 2009 he served as President of the Missouri Renewable Fuels Association as well as Board Chairman of United Cooperative of Plattsburg and Osborn, MO. He has been honored by numerous organizations and in 2010 was inducted into the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Celebrate National Ag Day

The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City celebrates National Agriculture Day on March 14, 2019.  It is a great occasion to highlight the impact of this industry that is present in every Kansas City resident’s life. Though rural businesses exist just miles outside of the city, many do not understand the range of today’s production agriculture.

Agriculture jobs don’t just include farming. They span an entire economy, from equipment manufacturers, seed and chemical technologies, food processors, animal production and more, and jobs like these are a foundation of the regional economy in Kansas City. Recent research from the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City, the American Royal and the Kansas Department of Agriculture hasshown that agri-business has a $29.3 billion impact on the region and supports 114,503 jobs in the Greater Kansas City Area. While that number is impressive, it is important to continue to cultivate this industry into the next generation. 

While some may think of their grandfather’s agriculture or what stereotypes are portrayed on television, that does not paint the full picture of the global industry. Today’s agriculture production relies on modern, sophisticated technology and management techniques that rival any technology company. In fact, companies like Amazon are taking notice and hiring employees to focus on agriculture technology.

What agriculture needs today is bright young minds who are creative and interested in helping feed a hungry world. Encourage students to engage with agriculture in school through science, technology, engineering andmath (STEM) and see firsthand how those skills can translate to the many career opportunities agriculture provides.

Sincerely,

Robert Thompson, Chairman
Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City

Agricultural Business Council to Honor Two Local Leaders

KANSAS CITY, MO, March 1, 2019- The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City will honor two of the region’s leading agricultural figures on May 16 at a luncheon in the Chamber Board Room in Kansas City’s historic Union Station.  The honorees will receive the Council’s highest award, the Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence. 

Agricultural Business Council Chairman Robert Thompson notes the honorees are champions for agriculture in separate but very key areas in the region. The honorees are:

• Lee Borck- Chairman of Innovative Livestock Services, Inc., (ILS) and Chairman of the Beef Marketing Group Cooperative (BMG). Combined, these two groups representing cattle feedlots in Kansas and Nebraska, have grown into one of the nation’s largest feeding organizations. As a standalone organization, ILS represents banking, farming, ethanol production and trucking interests. The BMG, under the guidance and leadership of Borck and other central Kansas cattle producers, is a cooperative of cattle producers and farms focused on working together to do what is right to remain sustainable. Borck is also chairman of American State Bank of Great Bend, Kansas and is the past President of Cattle-Fax, which is the nation’s leading cattle and data analysis company. Borck has served the industry as president of the Kansas Livestock Association, and has also served as a board member of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Board. He served as the Chairman of the Kansas 4-H Foundation and was Vice Chairman and a board member for the Kansas Bioscience Authority. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kansas State University Foundation. Borck has received numerous industry awards

• Gene Millard-  Millard Family Farms. Millard retired in 2003 after a nearly 40-year career in Radio and Farm broadcasting. He joined KFEQ radio in St. Joseph in 1964 as a farm broadcaster and in 1976 he was named the station’s general manager. In 1999 he became vice president of Eagle Radio Inc. which included stations KFEQ, KSJQ, KKJO, KSFT and the Ag Info Center. In retirement he continues to host a one-hour live show each Saturday on a 15 station, 5 state network including KFEQ. In addition to operating his family farm with his son, Brian, Millard currently serves as Chairman of the board of Golden Triangle Energy LLC and a board member of Citizens Bank and Trust in Kansas City. He has served as President of the Missouri Broadcasters Association, a board member of the National Association of Broadcasters, Chairman of the Board of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, President of the Missouri Kansas Chapter of the National Agri Marketing Association and served as Director of Marketing and Interim Executive of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. In 2009 he served as President of the Missouri Renewable Fuels Association as well as Board Chairman of United Cooperative of Plattsburg and Osborn, MO. He has been honored by numerous organizations and in 2010 was inducted into the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Hall of Fame. 

 “These individuals have had a positive and lasting effect on our community,” said Council Chairman Thompson. “They are strong examples of what being an advocate for agriculture can accomplish.”

The event will be held at the Chamber of Commerce Board Room in Union Station beginning at 11:30 a.m. for networking followed by lunch at noon. Click here for more information and to register to attend. 

Being the Bridge | Op-Ed by Gina Bowman

For as long as I can remember, there has always been division between the agricultural/rural sector and the urban/suburban sector.  I remember watching the 1960’s riots on television, and asking questions as a 6 year-old would, and being told that the cities are full of crime.   I grew up on a farm in northwest Missouri.  Both of my parents came from the agricultural/rural sector and grew up during the depression.   No such activity was ever experienced in the agricultural/rural areas, from their perspective.

I recall dressing up to go to the city whenever we wanted to shop for school clothes.  So, while the city may have been riddled with crime, etc. (from my parents perspective), it also was deemed to be a place to wear your Sunday best.  We were going UPTOWN!  

Fast forward to college, and I remember clearly in my Persuasion speech class, picking “the facts about the agricultural industry” as my topic for the speech before a hostile audience, with the backdrop as the “tractorcade” of the late 1970s..  Most of my student colleagues were from the urban/suburban sector and did not have any understanding of where their food came from, how hard farming was, etc.   They had no idea.   It was giving this speech that I finally understood that I had an opportunity to “educate, communicate, and gain better understanding” between both sides of the great divide.

Many leaders have worked at bridging the gap of understanding and communication between the country and city.  Former United States Senators Bob Dole (KS) and George McGovern (SD) believed strongly in bringing together both sectors’ needs.  One example in how this was done was bringing together both farm and food policies in 1973.  This was a way for the city sector to understand where its food supply came from and it was a way for the country to understand that it needed the city to survive.   And more importantly, it was a way to insure the farm policies would be passed into law.   

We must remember that census after census shows that the majority of the population is moving to Florida, California and Texas.  And while those are also agricultural production states, most of the population is in the cities.   Our congress is mainly an urban/suburban.   The rural/agricultural based districts continue to lose representation as the populations moves to the cities.   Both Missouri and Kansas lost a congressional district in the last 10 years.  Studies have shown that within forty years, in both states, eighty percent will live in the urban/suburban regions.   Agriculture needs the city and the city needs agriculture.

Bringing the two policies together was absolutely visionary by Dole and McGovern.  Just recently, the governors of Missouri and Kansas announced in their “state of the state” speeches, proposals to enhance their states’ rural sectors, including the access to broadband and infrastructure. Historically, urban-based policymakers tend to support efforts to support agricultural interests.

Sadly, in very recent years, there has been a growing trend to divide the two sectors.   Not just separating the food/farm security policies, but also separating the sectors through political campaigns.   Red sector versus blue sector maps and the focus of dividing the segments of the country is a political strategy.

This is not good for the country as a whole, and certainly not good for the agricultural/rural sector. Agricultural and rural interests have more to lose in this division in the long run.

However, with this concern, provides a wonderful opportunity for entities like the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City.   The Council was organized with this mission in mind:  “To advocate growth and awareness of the food, fiber, agri-science and related industries in the Kansas City region.”

Each and every member has the opportunity to “bridge” the urban/suburban and agricultural/rural sectors.   Those like me, a farm kid replanted in the city after college, are the best advocates.

Let’s openly communicate with your neighbors, church members, PTAs, schools, etc. about the contributions of our industry, about our policy concerns, and so forth.   In most cases, we will discover that our concerns are comparable:  healthcare access, technology, education, infrastructure, to name a few.

Let’s work at being the bridge.

Council Seeking Social Media Services

The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City is seeking proposals for social media services. In order to be considered, bidders must submit a proposal by February 28, 2019 to erica.venancio@agbizkc.com.

Click here to review the Request for Proposal.

Kansas Agriculture Appointment Draws Accolades

January 11, 2019 – Kansas City – The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City congratulates Kansas Governor-elect Laura Kelley’s choice of Mike Beam as the state’s new Secretary of Agriculture.  

“Mike Beam is exceptionally well qualified to lead this key agency.  Throughout his 38-year career with the Kansas Livestock Association, Mike has become well acquainted with all facets of agriculture and will be a great advocate for this important industry,” said Bob Petersen, executive director of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City.  Beam was a founding member of the Council in 2003 and served as its Chairman from 2006 to 2007.

Additional Council leaders – current and past – offered their congratulations:

• “Mike has long been a trusted leader of KLA and he will be one for all of Kansas agriculture as well.” – Bob Thompson, Ag Business Council Chair and partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

• “Mike Beam is an outstanding choice for Kansas Secretary of Agriculture. Gov.-elect Laura Kelly’s announcement that she will appoint Mike is welcome news to Kansas Corn. We’ve worked with Mike for years at KLA and look forward to continuing our relationship in his new role.” – Greg Krissek, Council vice chair and CEO, Kansas Corn.

• “The choice of Mike Beam represents the balance he has displayed throughout his career in Kansas agriculture.   He is a man of integrity and will serve the state well.” – Gina Bowman, Council founder and chair (2003-2005) and president, B2G:Business to Government Relations.

As the Council welcomes Mike Beam to his new role, Petersen notes, the group also recognizes the tireless efforts of outgoing Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey. “Jackie McClaskey was an outstanding Secretary of Agriculture and a true champion for Kansas agriculture. We congratulate her on the Department’s many accomplishments during her tenure,” Petersen said.