BELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Michael Moon has spent decades working the land in Bell County. Between farming, ranching, and a 30-year career with Texas A&M, he has watched the agricultural industry change — and he says the pressure on farmers right now is unlike anything sustainable.
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"I worked for Texas A&M for 30 years and then I retired and I've been farming and ranching for pretty much 55 years, pretty much the whole time," Moon said.
With the November ballot now set — pitting Republican Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico for a Texas Senate seat — Moon says farmers are watching closely and need leaders who understand rural Texas.
"The biggest issues right now that we're having is our increased cost of production, uh, our input cost, and if that continues to be an issue, uh, then you're looking at probably, uh, quite a few more farmers and ranchers going out of business because they're just barely holding on as it is now," Moon said.
From fertilizer to fuel to feed, Moon says costs keep climbing while profits shrink. He says the agricultural community has already taken its concerns to the highest levels of the federal government.
"We've reached out, uh, to, uh, President Trump and to, uh, our Secretary of Ag Brooke Rollins and basically told them that we need help with these issues of getting prices lowered," Moon said.
Beyond input costs, Moon says his biggest concern in Washington is the farm bill and the political gridlock standing in its way.
"The biggest thing I see in Washington, and I was there a few weeks ago, is the divide between the parties, uh. To me we need to get away from that and go back to being able to compromise and being able to talk and disagree without getting upset with each other because now it's it's it's either my way or the highway and that that doesn't work in any situation it really doesn't so it's put people on edge, uh. Even in Washington DC and hopefully in the Senate, they can work through this," Moon said.
Moon says that every election cycle, the agricultural community must rebuild relationships with new officeholders and make sure their needs are heard.
"In his office that he held and so we're just going to have to build new relationships with him and uh it's something that we do every election cycle is when someone new comes in we have to tell our story and let them know exactly what we need," Moon said.
The Texas election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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