Kansas produces more wheat, grain sorghum and beef than any other state in the nation. Cash receipts for farm marketings were nearly $10 billion in 2005, and Kansas ranks seventh in farm product exports, which were valued at $2.7 billion in 2005. 

The farm bill is vital to Kansas agriculture, to our nation’s food security and to our rural economies. To be equitable, it must be tailored to fit diverse agricultures − from Kansas to Florida and Alaska.

First and foremost, the next farm bill must comply with World Trade Organization rules of trade. After that, we must ensure a viable safety net for farmers. Reducing the protection offered by the existing safety net is unacceptable. Production costs, including the cost of land, fuel and fertilizer, have increased dramatically since the current farm bill was enacted. And, in truth, we have already reduced the effective safety net significantly.

Beginning farmers are most at risk if the farm safety net is weakened, so new farm policy must provide landowners a tax benefit for selling to beginning farmers. We also must streamline and enhance the Farm Service Agency’s beginning farmer finance program. We also must allow beginning farmers equal crop insurance risk protection.

            While the bulk of Kansas agriculture is in producing wheat, corn, soybeans, sunflowers and sorghum, the value of our specialty crops has doubled over the last five years. The specialty crop block grant program first established in the current farm bill should be continued and increased.

I also believe the farmers’ market nutrition program is worthy of enhancement, that risk management protection should be improved and that farm-to-cafeteria programs should be more firmly established.

            Risk management tools must be improved, and a permanent disaster program provision should be included in the next farm bill. Conservation cost-share programs should be strengthened, and a meaningful working lands program should be enacted.

            Maintaining viable farm and ranch operations benefits the rural economy. A program that provides funding for local-, state- and farm-level programs to encourage innovative marketing strategies, new business ventures and market or product development is needed. It also is imperative that we increase federal investment in research of cutting-edge technology so we remain competitive in the world market.

            The farm bill must make a strong commitment to an ongoing, aggressive renewable energy initiative. We must move away from our dependence on foreign oil and reap the positive economic impact renewable energy holds for our environment and for our nation’s farmers and rural communities.

            It also is time to look at enhancements to the Conservation Reserve Program. For the least-fragile parcels of land enrolled in CRP, USDA should allow up to two-thirds of those acres to be used to produce energy crops under no-till practices. This will enhance wildlife habitat and maintain conservation impacts while providing farmers additional income and freeing up federal resources for more CRP enrollment.

            Biotechnology can help answer the world’s need for safer, more abundant and more nutritious foods; it can play a part in developing competitive cellulosic ethanol production; and it can give us crops that require less water. USDA, FDA and EPA can help us reach those goals sooner with additional funding that will allow them to improve the permit approval process.

            Finally, we must eliminate the unfair prohibition on the interstate sale of state-inspected meat to create new opportunities for small businesses in rural communities, to create jobs and to stimulate economic growth. It also is a matter of fairness, since foreign meat processors considered equal to U.S. federally inspected plants may sell their products throughout the United States.

            The upcoming farm bill debate provides an opportunity to develop policy that preserves existing food production, prepares for a new generation of farmers and promotes new opportunities as agriculture continues to evolve to meet new needs.

The challenge will be to accommodate many points of view without becoming polarized in our mission.

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Adrian Polansky, a Belleville farmer, is Kansas secretary of agriculture.