Today, Wisconsin Farm Bureau President Kevin Krentz was invited to attend President Joe Biden’s speech in La Crosse.
“I am pleased that I could represent Wisconsin Farm Bureau at President Biden’s visit today,” said Krentz. “We appreciate the attention to several rural issues from the president.”
During his visit, the president addressed his bipartisan infrastructure framework plan. Part of this plan will evaluate the nation’s access to internet.
“While most people take broadband for granted, 25 percent of U.S. farms do not have access to the internet,” said Krentz. “Not only do farmers grow food and fuel, they also generate and share information, connect with customers and make data-driven business decisions. Broadband is crucial for our farms and rural communities to actively compete in a business setting while also staying connected with the rest of the world and I am pleased President Biden specifically mentioned that. He understands that we can no longer be left behind.”
Another component of this plan will focus on improving the nation’s roads and bridges. Agriculture is heavily dependent on a robust infrastructure of roadways and bridges to move farm equipment for planting and harvesting of crops, and to then move the products efficiently from the farm to the marketplace.
“As agriculture evolves so must the road and bridge infrastructure that support it,” said Krentz. “We support the bipartisan approach of addressing traditional infrastructure but do have concerns about paying for it with changes to the tax code. This could disproportionately hit agriculture and lead to greater consolidation within the industry. We hope to have further conversations on these matters.”
President Biden also mentioned several environmental efforts the plan would touch on including improving drinking water and air quality.
“Farmers have similar wants when it comes to clean water and sustainable efforts,” said Krentz. “Farmers have been working for years to improve their sustainability efforts and we hope that farmers can be involved in conversations on conservation and preserving our natural resources. We, too, want to leave our land, water and air better for the next generations.”
Krentz added, “Again, we are pleased with the attention to the needs of rural communities and hope that Farm Bureau can continue to discuss these important topics. It seems we all admire hard work and family values and hopefully we build upon our common beliefs as we work through these items.”
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