Listen more, talk less: Finding ways to work together

County fair, state fair, Learfield Ag/Brownfield summer meeting and Farm Progress Show filled my August. Hot and worn out at the end of many of those days, but my cup is full.

Having been in the business of farm broadcasting for nearly four decades, I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know so many really great men and women in agriculture. The eighth month afforded me the opportunity to cross paths and catch up with many of them.

One of my longtime friends in farm broadcasting often says that the best people work in ag. She is spot on.

With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, harvest of what many say will overall be one of the best crops we have ever raised will soon be underway and planning for the next growing season will commence.

Will you tighten your belt, or will you invest in any of the new tools, technologies and services showcased at Farm Progress Show? Will you wait to see how the presidential election pans out before you decide?

I have heard several farmers say they are waiting to see what happens with a farm bill. House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson told farmers at the Farm Progress Show, “We’re going to give the Senate a great bill to be able to work with.”

In an interview with Brownfield, Thompson said he would like to see a House vote before the presidential election and has been working to make sure there is a strong robust vote there. However, he says another extension is likely due to inactivity in the Senate.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, also speaking at the Farm Progress Show, said he knows Chairman Thompson wants a farm bill wrapped up before the election.

“If it doesn’t get done before the end of the year or if there’s not an extension before the end of the year, then there’s some ramifications that are pretty dire.”

But he tells Brownfield changes have to be practical.

“You have to take a look at what actual resources are indeed available for any new programs or expansions of existing programs and try to fit whatever you’re proposing within the real cost,” Vilsack said. “Not a cost that’s made up or not a cost that you use budget gimmicks to try to overshadow.”

Vilsack says he does not think it would take much to get it done.

“The areas of differences are just a handful. They are big and they are significant, but they are not impossible to bridge,” he said.

Isn’t that the truth about much of what we deal with today in politics and policy? Our differences are not really as many as the very loud far right and very loud far left would have you believe.

Maybe if we stopped screaming and yelling at one another about ideologies, we could find a way to work together.