Analysis: Political work on farm bill begins long before plan hits Capitol Hill

Anybody who has ever been to Dakotafest during an election year has seen the power that farmers and ranchers have over politicians in this state. If there’s a political office up for grabs, you can bet the candidates will show up at Mitchell’s annual farm-and-ranch trade show wearing boots and blue jeans. If it weren’t 100 degrees every year, they’d probably wear flannel shirts, too. Politicians at Dakotafest will stop at nothing to ingratiate themselves with the agricultural community. They’ll dip their upper lip into a vanilla shake and mug for a “Got Milk?” photograph at the dairy booth, patrol the crowds to shake the hands of yardstick-toting farmers and farmwives, and pledge to honor and defend “the family farm” during debates under a big open-air tent.

By: Seth Tupper, The Daily Republic