WV Farm Bureau Magazine March 2016 | Page 23

Duvall, continued I’m eager to bring your stories to Capitol Hill and represent U.S. agriculture there, but I’m not the only one our lawmakers want to hear from. The fact is: Farmers and ranchers need to be the ones telling our story or someone else will. We each have been given a voice, but it’s our responsibility to speak up and use it. That’s what my father taught me when I was a young farmer just starting out and complaining about regulations and milk prices. “You’re not going to solve those problems inside your fencerows,” he said. “You’ve got to get outside your fencerows.” My dad encouraged me to attend my first county Farm Bureau meeting, and with the journey that followed, I got a lot farther outside my fencerows than I ever expected. But I have learned over and over again that what my dad said was right: We can’t solve the problems facing agriculture if we’re not willing to step outside our comfort zone. I am proud of the thousands of Farm Bureau members who are investing their time in this important work. Last year al