The Indiana State Fair has been the meeting place for the Indiana Rural Caucus for 15 or so years now. We discuss the Rural Caucus and its importance on the latest Indiana Ag Policy Podcast from Hoosier Ag Today.
State Senator Jean Leising, chair of the Senate Ag Committee, explains how it got started.
“Senator Richard Young, a Democrat from southern Indiana, I’m a Republican from southeastern Indiana, and we decided to do it because there were so few legislators elected that really understood ag and rural.”
And it’s been a bipartisan event since its inception. Speakers who represent ag and rural organizations come to the Normandy Barn at the fairgrounds to share concerns with legislators facing rural Indiana.
“We had everything from Homeland Security to the Department of Ag and their trade development,” Leising says. “We had healthcare people in discussing the impact of state and federal legislation on hospitals. We actually had food safety.”
This year was the largest Rural Caucus gathering yet, boasting over 30 legislators and over 100 people total. Leising says the Rural Caucus helps make sure rural communities don’t get left out of economic development discussions.
“Indiana has a $35 billion agricultural industry. People just don’t realize that. I was just in a meeting in the last couple days where I wanted to stand up and scream, they were talking about other economic development, and I said, ‘Don’t forget, agriculture is an annual amount of $35 billion, and that doesn’t include all the extra things.’”
Hear more from Leising, State Senator Gary Byrne, and State Representative Beau Baird on the Indiana Ag Policy Podcast. Watch the podcast below or on our Facebook and YouTube.
