Washington Farm Bureau first vice president Aaron Golladay lives on a family run farming operation in central Washington State, near Warden, about 300 kilometres from Seattle.
He said, overall, a large portion of the urban vote controls what goes on in Washington State.
Mr Golladay said getting urban voters and politicians to understand key facts and issues around modern primary production, like animal welfare, property rights, seasonal challenges, plant biotechnology or water policy, was an ongoing dilemma.
Mr Golladay believes one of the key issues facing farm sustainability is the plentiful supply of cheap food in the US.
“What the American public has to start figuring out is that if they want non-GMO (genetically modified organisms), I’ll grow non-GMO, but they’ve got to pay me more to grow it because I’m not going to get the extra yields and the all-round benefits I do from using GMO.
“And science tells me there’s no difference between the two plants, so consumers should pay me more to do something that isn’t as profitable on-farm.”
Read full original article: Food fight the same for US farmers
