Opinion

GUEST COLUMN, Kim Baldwin, Kansas Farm Bureau

Although the temperatures outside suggest otherwise, summer is over as the kids have returned to school. While I always miss the extra daily chaos of the kids being home all day during the summer, I also always enjoy a bit of calm during the days following their return to school.

Yes, there are generally a couple days of transition involved as all of our routines return. It’s generally pretty quiet once the kids go back to school, and I think our farm dog, Rosie, and I both recognize the sharp contrast of days full of activities, noise and constant chaos to the calmer, quieter days where we can’t wait for a school bus to appear in the afternoon to welcome our people home.

GUEST COLUMN, David Dorsey, Kansas Policy Institute

In the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams,” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (played wonderfully understated by Kevin Costner) hears a voice say, “If you build it, he will come.” (It is often misquoted as “they will come.”) Unless you’ve been out to lunch for the past 3½ decades, you understand the reference.

Parents who are taking advantage of new and expanded school choice initiatives are having their own Field of Dreams experience. People are scurrying to school choice options like Swifties clamor for tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.

GUEST COLUMN, Dick Morris

GUEST COLUMN, Glenn Brunkow, Kansas Farm Bureau

One of the things I enjoy most about agriculture is the ability of farmers and ranchers to work together on projects large and small. At times we’re competitors seeking a good deal at an auction or to rent land to expand. But we’re also neighbors and don’t hesitate to interrupt our work to help someone down the road if asked.

These connections have served all of us well over the years, whether it be the informal request for help getting chores done or the grassroots advocacy through organizations like Kansas Farm Bureau that has helped adopt favorable legislation.