Kevin Roberts: “I rise today to join my many colleagues familiar with agriculture--the farmers, ranchers, growers, everybody in the food…”

“I rise today to join my many colleagues familiar with agriculture--the farmers, ranchers, growers, everybody in the food chain--and my thanks to Senator Ernst for really starting this, making a great speech last week. We are all trying to follow up with the same message to shine a spotlight on our Nation's COVID-19 heroes. We have heard the term ``hero'' a lot during this pandemic. I believe the title is warranted to describe the many Kansans and, for that matter, all Americans who are doing extraordinary work and making great sacrifices to make this country safer and healthier. Today, I want to talk about the heroes--the special heroes in agriculture: our farmers, our ranchers, our growers. The Sun comes out every day. A lot of us are in safe places. We have decided that is the best alternative for us, and so we have a lot of shutdowns. Not farm country. The farmers, ranchers, and growers, they don't have that option. They have to do what they have to do in terms of planting their crops, harvesting their crops, taking care of their crops. They work long hours, day in and day out, to produce the food on our dinner tables and make sure our supermarket shelves are stocked. These producers are facing low prices, regulatory overreach, a challenging trade environment, and drastic and sudden changes in demand for their crops and animals. To top it off, net farm income is estimated to drop by nearly $20 billion as of this year.…”