By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation (KFB) has a new president, elected last month during the group’s annual conference, and he has wasted little time getting to work.
Mark Haney, a Pulaski County farmer, has served on the KFB executive committee for 10 years and succeeds Marshall Coyle of Bath County, who previously announced that he would not seek reelection to the post. Less than a week into his new job, Haney – along with other KFB leaders – appeared before a state legislative committee to outline the organization’s priority issues for the 2009 legislative session.
Haney told the subcommittee that health care reform was the top concern of KFB members. “Farm families are greatly concerned about soaring health insurance costs and the accessibility of health care,” he said, adding that KFB has been working with insurance and health care providers to identify problems and develop solutions.
He also said the support of renewable fuels is important.
“We certainly understand the issues. Inputs have been a major topic in 2008 when we saw fertilizer prices and energy costs go up,” he said. “Even though some have come down, it’s no time to back down from renewable fuel sources. We want to stay the course to support renewable fuels such as ethanol and cellulose ethanol.”
Haney, who became the 22nd president in the 89-year history of KFB, is no stranger to the organization. He has been a director of the state board since 1993 and has served as first vice president since 2005, following seven years as second vice president. He also is a member of the executive committee of KFB Insurance Companies.
Haney has chaired the organization’s State Resolutions Committee and is a past president of the Kentucky Center for Cooperative Development and the Kentucky Horticultural Society. He and his brother Don run the family farm near Nancy, Ky., which consists of apples, peaches and pears, a bakery and a retail farm market where they sell cider, jellies and other products as a Kentucky Farm Bureau Certified Roadside Market.
The farm is also home to a cow-calf operation. The Haneys raised tobacco on the farm for generations until the tobacco buyout, when they left that portion of the business behind to concentrate on the orchard.
“We’ve been growing apples commercially for 135 years,“ he said. The 470-acre farm also hosts a large “u-pick” operation. “We’re hoping weather-wise it will be a good year in 2009, and we see the challenges that are forecast for lower prices.
“I think one of the strong points for us is that we have come off a few years of good farm prices, now the issue is to keep the debt load as low as possible and have access to credit on the farm.”
Haney said another issue will be to watch how the new administration in Washington will address agriculture issues, noting that he is hearing the new president is basing his stand on the environment on sound science – a good thing, Haney said, but there are always questions.
“We’re certainly going to work with the new administration and watch as the new regulations in the farm bill are implemented and how it affects the farm,” he said.
Haney and other KFB leaders just returned from the American Farm Bureau (AFB) Federation annual meeting, where he was elected to serve on its board of directors.
“I also want to represent those non-farming members as well,” he said. “Our strongest asset is to be represented on state and federal levels.”
For more information about KFB, visit its website at www.kyfb.com/index.asp |
