It’s been four years since we lost renowned ag economist Barry Flinchbaugh, but a group of ag leaders is determined to see his legacy live on.
As I wrote in announcing his death, there are a lot of different and talented agricultural economists in this country, but Flinchbaugh (pictured above) was unique in his style, his colorful stories and his convictions. If you ever met him, you wouldn’t forget him.
As a professor and Extension educator, Flinchbaugh taught agricultural policy subjects to approximately 4,000 undergraduates and, as a much sought-after speaker, lectured at farm meetings around the country. Before his death on Nov. 2, 2020, he served as professor emeritus, department of agricultural economics, at Kansas State University, where he had joined the faculty in 1971.
Aug. 17, marked the one-year anniversary of the creation of the Barry Flinchbaugh Center for Ag and Food Policy.
This week, the board of directors for the BLF Center is convening in Manhattan, Kansas, at Kansas State University to celebrate the formation of the center, unveil the new branding and website and, most importantly, talk about its policy work on behalf of the food and ag sector. The board includes former secretaries of agriculture Dan Glickman and Mike Johanns along with a host of other ag leaders who have fond memories of the differences Flinchbaugh made in ag policy circles.
“Barry was a consensus builder, knowing the key to sound agriculture policy required one to be a good listener,” said Glickman, also a former Kansas congressman. “He used to say maybe that crazy guy who never agrees with me has one good idea to change the world.
“He also advised me to focus on a few key ideas rather than try to solve every problem in the world. And finally, he was funny. Damn funny. His great sense of humor was infectious and helped influence people across the political spectrum.”
Although the BLF Center will be based in Kansas, the policy focus will be national. The board will face the task of deciding which of many numerous topics confronting the food and ag sectors to explore first, including water availability, the farm bill, environmental policy, and rural infrastructure—just to name a few. One topic appears to be rising to the top: labor. That’s because the labor shortage in farm country is a critical and immediate threat to the competitiveness of the industry.
The BLF Center is certainly not the only place where key ag issues are discussed and debated. There have long been regional policy centers that often analyze issues for the House and Senate ag committees, including the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri, the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A & M University, FarmDoc, which is based at the University of Illinois but also draws from experts across the Corn Belt, and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University. All of these institutions play important roles in providing insight and analysis.
North Dakota State University is also working to develop a regional policy center.
The BLF Center aims to differentiate itself by assessing the implications of various policy decisions and laying out the potential consequences. For example, there could be an analysis of certain changes in the H-2A labor program that key lawmakers can read to make informed decisions based on the findings.
Overall, The Flinchbaugh Center’s goal is to enable thriving, competitive and sustainable U.S. agriculture and food systems, aiming to:
- Improve understanding of policy alternatives and consequences.
- Enable informed decisions by policymakers, agricultural leaders, food system stakeholders and the public.
- Ensure that agricultural policies and strategies are based on facts and rational consideration.
The center is also working to support the Flinchbaugh Ag Policy Chair at Kansas State University and the Flinchbaugh Fellows Program. These are student-focused educational and leadership initiatives that include state and national policy engagement.
Editor’s note: Sara Wyant is publisher of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., www.Agri-Pulse.com. Wyant was invited to serve on the Flinchbaugh Center’s board of directors.
