Ricketts endorsed by Nebraska Farm Bureau in Kimball

The Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation Political Action Committee officially declared their endorsement of Republican gubernatorial candidate Pete Ricketts at the Diner in Kimball on Monday June 23.

Ricketts, who edged ahead of Attorney General Jon Bruning during the primary election in May to win the Republican nomination, greeted members of the Kimball/Banner County Farm Bureau and the public as they filed in to the back room of the Diner around noon as Steve Nelson, President of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, prepped the crowd for the declaration.

Nelson opened by saying how excited the Farm Bureau was to be able to endorse Ricketts, citing his commitment to agriculture and the belief that he will help to ease many of the problems facing ag producers in the state.

"We're really excited about this, because Pete really understands agriculture. He understands the significant property tax issues that we have. He knows how important water is to the state. He understands economic development and where agriculture fits into that. So, in every possible respect, we're very excited to have Pete Ricketts as a candidate for governor and to have the opportunity to endorse him in that respect today," Ricketts said.

Mark McHargue, First Vice President of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, echoed Nelson's statements while also explaining the need for the Farm Bureau to have a Political Action Committee (PAC).

"A lot of people wonder why we have a PAC (Political Action Committee) and why do you get involved in these races, and the answer is because our members really want us to be involved. Our members know that if we're not involved in these races it's very difficult to have a lot of good policy, and Farm Bureau has excellent policy. When it comes to getting those policies in action, you need to have good relationships with the governor and the people in legislature," McHargue said.

According to McHargue, the process leading up to the endorsement entailed taking a survey of members of the Farm Bureau throughout the state and asking them who they believe would best represent their interests at the state level.

"It came back very clear in this case that Pete Ricketts was the clear choice to represent us as governor and so we are happy as a PAC to endorse Pete Ricketts as 'Friend of Agriculture' and we're looking forward to working with him through November, making sure he gets across the finish line. And I think we'll make that happen. I also want to thank the county leaders. This process does not happen without county leadership," McHargue said.

After the statements from members of the Farm Bueau, Ricketts addressed the members of Farm Bureau and the public represented, thanking them for their endorsement and reiterating the importance of agriculture to the state of Nebraska moving forward.

"Agriculture is the heart and soul of what we do here in Nebraska. It drives our economy and 25 percent of our folks are employed in it. And so if we're going to grow the state here in Nebraska, it's going to be cause we're starting with opportunities from our largest industry. And we do, we have a tremendous opportunity here in Nebraska," Ricketts said.

Ricketts elaborated more on the unique opportunity he believes that the state has with agriculture, citing a growth in population by the year 2050 that he states would leave the world to produce 100 percent more food with seventy percent of that food having to come from productivity and innovation.

"We sit in the middle of the most productive, innovative country the world has ever seen. We are ideally situated here in Nebraska to be able to take advantage of that. So I couldn't be more excited to work with Nebraska Farm Bureau to put together the plans to be able to make sure that we continue to have strong agriculture here, grow the economy, grow agriculture and be able to have the great quality of life we have here in Nebraska. And that's primarily because of what we do here in agriculture," Ricketts said.

Lavon Heidemann, Lieutenant Governor of the state of Nebraska and Ricketts' running mate, was also in attendance and spoke a few words about his appreciation to the Farm Bureau, not only for their endorsement on the current campaign but also the help that he has received in the past, particularly when he ran for state legislature in 2004 and 2008 along with the University Board of Regents in 2012.

"Farm Bureau was with me every step of the way, and they're the neatest organization. If I could only get endorsed by one group, it would be Farm Bureau, because I know what they can do. That's what makes Farm Bureau so important that they're from the grass roots up, and you decide what they do. So I want to thank you for what you do, and I also want to assure you that as I've gotten to know Pete Ricketts over the last several years and better over the last few months, he understands the importance of rural Nebraska and agriculture. And I look forward to the partnership that we're going to have together to move this state forward, always keeping you in mind," Heidemann said.

During a question and answer portion of the event Ricketts also touched on various other issues that he would like to address if elected governor including property taxes on ag land citing his plan for agriculture.

"It calls for taking property tax, valuations on ag land down from 75 percent to 65 percent, putting a cap on how fast those valuations can go up, putting more money into the property tax credit relief funds and also curtailing what we do at the state as far as pushing down unfunded mandates to school districts and county boards so they have more flexibility to manage their budgets," Ricketts said.

Ricketts also addressed concerns from Kimball County resident Jim Johnson about water issues that the state is facing, citing the different needs and perspectives from the different ends of the state.

"We have a lot of diverse groups. This is why the governor has to be personally involved to bring together all of those diverse groups, whether it's ground water, surface water, recreational use, municipalities, public power, to sit down at the table and craft that overall water strategy for the state and then commit the state resources to be able to get it done. That's where, again, I think Lavon and I are going to be so important working with those diverse interests to kind of craft together what that's going to look like and be able to put the resources out to them," Ricketts said.

Ricketts also stated that the state had a "good start" with legislation that Senator Tom Carlson got passed to provide more research. However, Ricketts said that there is a lot more work that needs to be done.

"If you think about it, we have two million acre feet of water come into the state every year. Eight million leave. That means there's six million acre feet of water that we have the opportunity, and if we don't obligate it ourselves, if we don't put the plans in place, somebody else is going to do that for us. So we do need to work with Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado, fish and wildlife, and I think we've got a tremendous opportunity to put the plans in place to be able to capture more of that water so we continue to be the number one irrigated state in the country," Ricketts said.

In turning to education, which is another major focus of Ricketts' campaign, Ricketts made it clear that he is absolutely against the Common Core State Standards Initiative, stating that it takes away the ability for teachers to be creative in designing their lesson plans and how they educate their students.

"What this all is trying to do is lower it to the lowest common denominator in the classroom, trying to make it so that everybody gets taught the same. But what it will do is take all the creativity out of teaching. If you're a teacher and you have to follow this road memorization almost of a guideline, this cookie cutter program, it takes all the creativity out. You're not teaching anymore. Why would you want to do that? If it's a profession where you can't use your creativity and you can't really teach, why would you want to go into it?" Ricketts said. "We need our best and brightest to go into teaching, and to create a profession where we discourage that is going to undermine the very future of our country. So I'm absolutely against the Common Core. We need to resist it."

Ricketts also stated that he also has some concerns with Common Core sneaking in "through the back door" into the state's schools..

"Here's the problem. With so many states adopting the Common Core, it's being worked into the curriculum in text books and with standardized testing and so forth. So there's a real potential here for it to really come into the back door through our school systems. And this is what we as parents and teachers and school board members need to remain vigilant about what our kids are being taught so we can make sure that the Common Core isn't being back-doored into our education system," Ricketts said.

Ricketts states that developing relationships with state senators, putting together a strategic plan to grow the state, and working together with state senators as a team to be able to deliver legislation is how he will help move the state in the right direction if elected in November.

"That's the way we're going to do that. It's so important that Lavon is part of the team to be able to pull together that coalition and how we're going to work together with all the state senators to really build that, put it together and get it passed. That's how we're going to approach getting property tax relief done and anything else that we need to do in regard to taxes, the strategic plan for growing Nebraska, water strategy, all of that is going to be because we developed good relationships with the unicameral and put together a coalition to get those great bills passed," Ricketts said.