07/28/2026
I’m always grateful when legislators are willing to sit down with farmers, listen, ask questions, and brainstorm ways to save what remains of American agriculture.
But I think we’ve reached a point where it’s about more than just saving what’s left.
We need to find real solutions that make farming profitable again—not just profitable enough to survive another year, but profitable enough that a farm family can make a living, invest in the future, pay the bills, and eventually hand the farm down to the next generation.
Farmers shouldn’t have to constantly depend on loans, emergency programs, or government "bailouts" just to keep the gates open.
We don't seem to have a problem accepting that CEOs in other industries can make millions—or even tens of millions—of dollars. Yet the people running many of America's farms are working from before daylight until after dark, taking on enormous risk, and often barely making enough to keep going.
And when it finally comes time to retire, many farm families discover that the only realistic option left is to sell to the highest bidder.
And sadly, the highest bidder often isn't another farmer.
That means the land that has fed families for generations can disappear from agriculture altogether. 💔
I’m thankful for everyone who follows along, reads these posts, and takes the time to understand what is happening on farms across this country.
Because what happens on the farm doesn't just affect farmers.
It affects all of us.
When farms disappear, we lose more than a farm.
🌱 We lose working land and healthy soil.
🐝 We lose habitat for pollinators and wildlife.
👨🌾 We lose rural jobs and the businesses that depend on them.
🏡 We lose part of the identity and character of rural communities.
🥕 We lose opportunities to produce and buy food close to home.
And as more farmland disappears and more of our food system becomes concentrated in fewer hands, we also risk losing some of the independence and resilience that comes from having a strong, diverse agricultural system.
We’ve seen the effects of this firsthand right here in our own county.
The loss of farms may not immediately mean there is less food, fuel, or fiber available. But it does mean fewer people producing it, fewer farms spreading the risk, and fewer independent producers contributing to the system that feeds us all.
It means less diversity.
Less resilience.
Less local economic strength.
And, ultimately, less control over our own food system.
That should concern every one of us.
So please keep paying attention.
Keep asking questions.
And remember the people who came before us—the men and women who cleared the land, worked the fields, raised livestock, raised families, and built communities.
They didn't just farm for themselves.
They cared for the land so they could leave something behind for the people who came after them.
That land became the foundation of so much of what we’ve built in this country. 💥
It really wasn't that long ago when most families grew at least some of their own food and neighbors depended on one another. They traded, bartered, helped each other, and worked together to make sure their families had what they needed.
Today, fewer and fewer farms are producing the food and fiber that allow the rest of society to live the modern lives we enjoy.
That comes with a responsibility for all of us.
If we want family farms to survive, we have to find ways for them to make a living—not just find a way to survive.
Because the goal shouldn't simply be to save farming for today.
The goal should be to make sure there are still farmers here tomorrow.
And the next day.
And generations from now.
The fight to keep family farms on the land, to keep rural communities alive, and to protect America's ability to feed itself is a fight worth having.
And it's a fight worth winning. 💪🏿
