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Gov. Kelly asks Congress to include next generation in farm bill discussions

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is asking Congress to support young, beginning, and small farmers in the next farm bill.

She tells Brownfield the legislation needs to include incentives for the next generation. “Transportation, childcare and other kind of things that make life possible for our young folks. And, also possible, to make it financially feasible for them to stay on the farm or come back to the farm.”

She says the farm bill has to address the housing shortage and expanding rural broadband. “Farming has become such a technology now.  They have to have access to high-speed internet or they really aren’t able to operate the way that farmers today or of the future can operate.”

And, Kelly says, additional funding for research and development for drought mitigation and water usage should be another priority. “We have got to provide the tools for our farmers to operate in a way more environmentally sound way and in a way the preserves and reuses water.”

Kelly recently sent a letter to Congress addressing the critical needs for farmers and ranchers to be addressed in the 2023 Farm Bill.