NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Last week, Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. was part of a hearing in Burlington, Colorado where he joined a colleague to learn more before further conversations on the upcoming Farm Bill.
"I was so honored and proud to be out in Goodland, Kansas and then Burlington, Colorado with Democrat Senator Michael Bennett," Marshall said. "We co-chair the Conservation Subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee. I say he's a Democrat just to tell people, look, there are lots of bipartisan activities that I participate in. I was so proud to be with Senator Bennett, to be out on the tongue of the wagon, so to speak, and listening to farmers and producers and talk about conservation, specifically about water conservation."
There are shared challenges for the two states.
"Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado look very much alike," Marshall said. "We farm the same crops. We've shared a drought in the last 15 years and we share this aquifer underneath it as well. It's great to learn about the conservation practices that are working. Then, as we put the finishing touches on the Farm Bill, the conservation chapter of the Farm Bill, it's great to be able to figure out what we need to accentuate."
Saving water depends on good data on what works and doesn't work.
"We have dozens of conservation farms out there that have been putting together programs over the last five years," Marshall said. "They've actually got the net zero on this aquifer, this body of water, fresh water that sits underneath Colorado and Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas as well. It's hundreds of feet deep, and those farms that are using these conservation methods are at net zero. Number one is they need high speed Internet broadband because they're using volumes and volumes of information, and then they're using things like water probes and new irrigation nozzle technique as well. It's expensive, but again, by doing the right practices, using technology, we can accentuate that. Probably only 5%, 10% of farmers and ranchers are using these techniques right now. There needs to be ways the government can help get them set up. Water is the most valuable commodity out there in the world."
Marshall said the process is still going forward with the Farm Bill as the language between the Republicans and Democrats is not close enough to agreement to go forward yet. He is hopeful that the best deal for Kansans will happen at the end of the day, even if it doesn't get done before the fall elections.
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