Commentary: US Rep. Sam Graves

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves R-Missouri

Dear Friend,

Farming isn’t just a way to make a living. It’s a way of life—one that I’ve been blessed to share with my family.

Growing up, I never dreamed I’d be a Congressman. All I wanted to do was farm, but when I came back from college at the height of the 1980s farm crisis, I learned pretty quickly just how precariously our lives were held in the hands of a few politicians and bureaucrats in Jefferson City and Washington, DC. I knew I couldn’t sit down and shut up. I’ve never been good at that. I knew I needed to do something, fix things, and help keep this dream alive, not just for my family, but for the millions of family farms all over this country, just like us.

I answered the call to serve in the Missouri House, the Missouri Senate, and eventually the United States Congress because I knew we needed leaders who would stand up for Missouri farmers, and I knew if I couldn’t, who would?

A lot has changed since then. I’ve been proud to be a part of getting four Farm Bills signed into law, which strengthened crop insurance into the bedrock program it is today, built pathways for young Americans to get into farming, and shifted conservation efforts away from locking up productive acres and into programs that actually help farm families better the environment while farming.

We’ve made a lot of progress, and just today, we passed another Farm Bill through the House that will help speed up disaster relief for farmers, while protecting crop insurance and further strengthening the beginning farmer and voluntary conservation programs we’ve worked so hard to build. More than that, though, it takes major steps to challenge the Chinese shell companies and solar developers seeking to scoop up our farmland, and it codifies the Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act, which will help keep rural hospitals open and serving everyone in our rural communities, including farmers.

Farming has never been easy, but it’s always been worth the blood, sweat, and tears. Since I first got elected to Congress, I haven’t taken a dime from any farm programs, but I know just how important these programs and the Farm Bill are for farm families in North Missouri and across our great country. I’ve been proud to fight to protect this way of life.

As we look to the future, I know that the challenges facing family farms in North Missouri are great, but I also know that the values that I’ve spent my life working to protect are alive and well. My original goal of standing for Missouri farmers has never wavered and I’ll always be proud of what we’ve been able to get done, just like we did with the Farm Bill this week.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves