A Look Inside the Senate Ag Committee with Chairman John Boozman
I had the chance to sit down with Senator Boozman the other day, and I’ll tell you what stuck with me wasn’t all the policy talk; it was how much they still need to hear from us.
Not reports. Not headlines. Us. Real Farmers.
Because here’s the truth… things are tight out here. And I don’t mean just this year. We’ve stacked multiple hard years back-to-back, and at some point, it quits being something you can “ride out.” It starts changing how you farm, how you plan, and how you think about the next generation coming behind you.
We talked through a lot — farm bill progress, crop insurance, trade, input costs that don’t seem to want to come down. There’s been movement, and I’ll give credit where it’s due. There’s been genuine effort to get more support into agriculture. Even efforts to increase the value of what we grow and process it here on US soil. But we’re not done. Not even close.
Most folks I know aren’t trying to get ahead right now. They’re just trying to get back to even. And when you’re operating in that kind of environment, every decision carries a little more weight. I know. I feel it. Some days it feels like quicksand and others like a tornado.
What really hit home for me, though, was this — they know it’s tough, but they don’t always feel it unless we tell them.
There’s a difference between seeing numbers on a page and hearing a farmer say, “This is what it’s doing to my operation. This is what it means for my family. This is what’s at stake if things don’t change.”
I’ve seen it firsthand. You walk into those rooms, and it’s intimidating. No way around that. But when you speak up, when you tell the real story, people listen. It sticks. And it matters more than most folks think.
Because decisions are getting made whether we’re part of the conversation or not. And not being part of the conversation is giving up.
We also talked about the bigger picture — global competition, input costs jumping overnight, markets that aren’t as dependable as they used to be. You can do everything right on your farm and still feel like you’re chasing something that keeps moving.
That’s the reality of row crop agriculture right now.
But here’s the part I keep coming back to: we’re not powerless in this. If anything, we’ve been too quiet for too long.
So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth making a call, sending an email, or showing up when you get the chance… it is.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be polished. Just be honest.
Because agriculture isn’t just numbers and policy, it’s people. It’s families. It’s farms that have been around longer than most of these conversations.
And if we don’t tell that story, somebody else will.
And they won’t get it right.
Let’s keep telling the story.
If you missed the podcast, you can catch our episode here:
🍎 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-look-inside-the-senate-ag-committee-with/id1795513436?i=1000756341630
💚 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Ysqptr6LWSSPILlzo8D6O?si=1dbcd9e7dc3340c8