I recently received an email from a young woman about to start her senior year at a Texas high school. The email, titled “Problems in Washington for the Future of Agriculture!” chronicled her distress regarding the direction of our country, particularly the policy decisions being pushed through Congress and their disastrous effects on the industry upon which we all depend. Some of the things she said:
- “The government is killing agriculture and it isn’t fair at all.”
- “We all need healthy ways of living, but stop putting so many regulations on agriculture when other countries where we get our source of food have none or a few regulations.”
- “The Estate Tax Reform does need to be passed by Congress! If it’s not then it hurts our economy even worse.”
- “Not many people these days know a lick about agriculture and where their food comes from. Most think it comes from a can or a box, they never think about ‘Hey, I’m helping somebody out!’”
I think it is safe to say based on these astute observations that a high school senior possesses more common sense and capability than many of our leaders in Washington, D.C. Her keen message contains many of the points that we must send to Washington in November. More importantly, we should all be proud that the next generation of leaders is taking an active roll in the future of our country. After all, we are all involved in agriculture at least three times a day.
