At the Great Bend Farm show – Standing up for rural prosperity – Brian Hale, Darren Dale, James Fenoglio, Steve Stratford, Mike Callicrate, and Justin Harris
Thanks to show organizer, Darren Dale, for the invitation to present at the Great Bend Farm Show. It was a pleasure presenting with fellow Kansan Steve Stratford. Steve is a welcome voice of reason and truth, and powerful defender of fair cattle markets.
On the 250-mile drive from St. Francis to Great Bend, I was reminded of the amazing wealth creation capacity of Kansas, but also of how little of the wealth stays in the state. Across Western Kansas, the big corporate feedlots were full, while the lower cost, more efficient farmer feeder lots were empty or abandoned. Three Dollar stores — yes, three — were open for business across the road from the motel in Hoisington, while franchise and retail chain stores lined the east-west thoroughfare through Great Bend. Like the coal mining towns of Appalachia, Kansas creates the wealth, but keeps very little. How insulting is it for the farmers, ranchers, and workers of rural America, after seeing their communities decimated by corporate extraction, to be left with only Dollar stores hawking the leftovers of the wealth they created?
Following are the slides from my presentation at Great Bend.
Great Bend April 9, 2022Click on arrows in lower left corner of image to advance slides.
