Kentucky Farm Bureau leaders are heading to the nation’s capitol to discuss agricultural issues. They’ll be meeting with representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation February 26th and will then speak with the Commonwealth’s congressional delegation the following day. Dan Smaldone is Kentucky Farm Bureau’s director of public relations. He says the congressional tour gives Kentucky farmers a chance to hold strategic discussions with lawmakers on a variety of issues, like farm labor, immigration reform and fiscal and national farm policy.
“It was a fantastic opportunity for our volunteer leaders to go to Washington, to get an inside look at how policy is being developed on a national scale but is also a great time to sit down and have literal face-to-face time with their representatives, sometimes even literally in their offices, to discuss things that concerns farmers and just the average citizen back here in Kentucky,” Smaldone said.
“Our members are very eager to talk about things concerning fiscal policy, certainly the national farm policy and farm labor, immigration reform and even environmental issues facing agriculture,” Smaldone said. “We have obviously as an organization a strong agricultural emphasis on why we would want to speak with our delegates there. But certainly this concerns people on a personal nature as well as the broad spectrum.”
More than 200 members of the Kentucky Farm Bureau from 51 Kentucky counties are participating in the congressional tour.