Teenager Koether is already a veteran Washington lobbyist
Thursday, March 29, 2007
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
Agri News staff writer
GIARD, Iowa -- Kayla Koether is just 17, but she's been lobbying members of Congress on sustainable agriculture issues since she was 12.
Kayla and her father, Greg, made their fifth trip to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to talk about sustainable agriculture.
The Koethers have a certified organic farm where they rotationally graze cattle, sheep and goats at Giard, a small town near McGregor. The farm is enrolled in the Conservation Security Program at Tier III.
Kayla said she lobbies because as a farmer and a member of a rural community she has seen that the economy isn't working and people are leaving the land.
"We see sustainable agriculture as a viable means of economic development that can rejuvenate rural communities and bring people back," Kayla said.
The Koethers were part of a Sustainable Agriculture Coalition fly-in. They represented Land Stewardship Project in Minnesota and Practical Farmers of Iowa.
They met U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley and Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley, and aides to Rep. Tom Latham and U.S. Rep. David Loebsack.
Kayla said it's exciting that Sen. Harkin is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
"It's quite a change from two years ago when we met with aides to Sen. Saxby Chambliss (a Georgia Republican who at the time chaired the committee)," Kayla said. "It was an uncomfortable meeting."
"This time we were in the same room, but it was a different message," Greg said. "Sen. Harkin was saying exactly what we wanted to hear. It was much friendlier, and we're expecting to see some results."
In addition to talking about increased funding for the Conservation Security Program, the Koethers talked about the Beginning Farmer Initiative.
When Kayla speaks about the problems of beginning farmers, people listen.
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