Governor: State Should Invest in Livestock
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TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas needs to invest hundreds of millions of dollars more in its beef, dairy and pork industries in order to give the state a larger share of U.S. animal agriculture production, Gov. Sam Brownback said.
“I just want to see us put that on steroids and grow it,” Brownback said Wednesday during an economic development summit in Garden City.
Kansas Governor, Sam Brownback
Brownback said the recent expansion of dairy farms in western Kansas could be replicated by the redevelopment of poultry production in the state.
“We can grow the animal agriculture industry in this state,” Brownback said. “We can compete against anybody in the world with what we do.”
But he said the state had to take a firm position on preservation of the Ogallala Aquifer, a key underground source for water in western Kansas.
“It’s probably the main issue we have facing animal agriculture.”
Dale Rodman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, said the state’s livestock producers had to organize around marketing opportunities to supply more meat to countries with a rising standard of living.
“Government can’t do it all,” he said.
