Jerry Moran Quotes
We need to make sure the Department of Agriculture is promoting farmers and ranchers.
U.S. Congress, Senate. Senator Moran speaking on the Department of Agriculture. Congressional Record, 112th Cong., 2nd sess., 2012.
There were many new scientific agricultural techniques emerging but most farmers knew nothing about them. Garfield wanted the Federal Government to provide education, communications and technical assistance to farmers. However, that was a radical notion and many did not see that as a proper role of the Federal Government. The President gave the example of an early Federal role of establishing lighthouses to protect and assist mariners sailing along the American coasts. Most Americans had accepted helping the maritime industry. Why not assist agriculture? The subsequent Federal role in Agriculture was one of the major factors in making the American farmer the most productive in the world as new techniques would be communicated to farmers rapidly and implemented without much delay.
Actually, Kerry was incorrect, but he had a point, There are about 110,000 employees of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and every state has their own department of Agriculture with employees. There are about 2 million farms in America. So there is a government agriculture employee for about every 15 farms—a ratio that no other occupation shares.
At the time the vast majority of Americans were farmers. That is the tradition and reality which caused the Department of Agriculture to become one of the most important cabinet departments. However, by the 21st century the Department of Agriculture had over 100,000 employees plus many more consultants and contractors. They had done their job so well that productivity eliminated the need for most of the farms. And the number of people earning the majority of their living as farmers is less than 1 million. So there are only 10 farmers for each employee of the Agriculture Department.
Inscribed in the South Lunette of the Library of Congress
She advocates cutting out more of the middle men in the food chain and having the farmer earn more money. One difficulty with her idea is that the vast majority of farming today is done by large corporations who are already making a good deal of money and consumer groups do not want to further enrich these corporations at the expense of the consumer. However by buying directly from the small farmer who grows particularly good food, she can accomplish the objective on a small scale.
Gerald Wesley Moran is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Kansas since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 113th U.S. Congress, during which he led successful Republican efforts in the 2014 election, producing the first Republican Senate majority since 2006. Previously, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Kansas's 1st congressional district.
