© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

KS Senator Paints Bleak Picture of Farm Economy

Abigail Wilson, File Photo
/
KMUW

Kansas Republican Senator Pat Roberts is painting a bleak picture of the nation's farm economy.

During a hearing on farm credit on Thursday, Roberts said profitability for farmers and ranchers is expected to decline for the third straight year.

"Over the past three years alone, net farm income is expected to decline by 56 percent," Roberts says. "As our nation's farmers and rural communities continue to deal with low commodity prices, access to affordable credit in rural America is absolutely crucial."  

Roberts chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.

J. Schafer is the News Director of Kansas Public Radio at the Univeristy of Kansas. He’s also the Managing Editor of the Kansas Public Radio Network, which provides news and information to other public radio stations in Kansas and Missouri. Before joining KPR in 1995, Schafer spent 10 years as a commercial radio and TV newsman. During his career, he's filed stories for nearly every major radio news network in the nation including ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, UPI, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NPR and the BBC. This seems to impress no one. At KPR, he produces feature stories, interviews and newscast items and edits the work of others. In the fall of 2000, he performed contract work for the U.S. State Department, traveling to central Asia to teach broadcast journalism at newly independent radio stations in the former Soviet Union. One of his passions is Kansas; learning about and promoting the state’s rich heritage, people and accomplishments. Schafer gives presentations about Kansas to various organizations around the state to remind residents about our awesome history and incredible people. A native of Great Bend, he studied journalism and mass communications at Barton County Community College and at the University of Kansas. He was also an exchange student to Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. The “J.” in J. Schafer stands for Jeremy, but he doesn’t really care for that name. He also enjoys the pretentiousness of using just a single initial for a first name!