Women for Kansas Barton County - Is Washington Plowing Us Under?

Is Washington putting agriculture to the plow? It’s said that as agriculture goes, so goes the economy in Kansas. With tariffs and budget cuts to USAID, USDA, NOAA, SNAP and more, agriculture is facing an uncertain future. To better understand the possible consequences of these recent federal actions on Kansas agriculture and the greater economy, Women for Kansas Barton County is holding a public forum, “Is Washington Plowing Us Under?”, at 3:30 p.m., March 30, at the Barton County Historical Society Museum (85 S. 281 Hwy., Great Bend). After brief statements by the forum panel, who are all involved in state, national and international agriculture issues, moderators will facilitate a discussion on the issues before opening the floor to questions from the audience. Agriculture is the largest economic driver in Kansas. According to the Kansas Department of Agriculture, it directly contributes $57 billion and 140,055 jobs to the state economy. Including indirect and induced effects, agriculture and agriculture-related sectors have a total impact of $81.2 billion in output and 253,614 jobs. Negative impacts on agriculture send ripple effects across the state’s economy. Forum panel participants include Kansas Farmers Union Executive Director Nick Levendofsky who has served in that capacity since 2022. Growing up on a crop and cattle family farm in North Central Kansas, he’s served in multiple roles with Kansas Farmers Union, Wisconsin Farmers Union, and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union since 2011. Levendofsky also serves on the board of the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP. Dan O’Brien, Kansas State University professor in the Department of Agriculture Economics, has focused extension and applied research on grain and bioenergy market analysis and market risk management. Growing up on a family farm is South Central Nebraska, he eventually landed at the Northwest Research Extension Center in Colby in 1995. Additional work involves irrigated and dryland cropping systems. Vance Ehmke is a certified seed producer in Lane County. A past president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and former editor for the Progressive Farmer magazine, he currently writes a column featured in numerous Kansas newspapers.