From Wisconsin Ag Connection:
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has put together a statewide coalition of farm groups, producers and small business owners that he hopes will advise him on agricultural issues affecting Wisconsin. The effort, known as ‘Farmers for RonJon’ was unveiled at the Steve and Sally Miller dairy farm in La Crosse on Friday. The incumbent lawmaker says the group will help mobilize the ‘best-in-the-nation ground game’ that he and fellow Wisconsin Republicans have built.
“I grew up working on a farm and helped build a company from the ground up, so I know firsthand how hard Wisconsin’s farmers and others in our agriculture industry are working to grow our economy, create jobs, and feed our families,” Sen. Johnson said. “That’s why I’m working to get Washington out of their way and why I’m proud to have Wisconsin agriculture helping to mobilize our grassroots army in November.”
The coalition includes a leadership team of 12. Johnson says the group will also help mobilize other leaders in the agriculture industry to join the movement.
“Senator Johnson has been a strong supporter of Wisconsin agriculture in our nation’s capitol,” said Wisconsin Farm Bureau Governmental Director Paul Zimmerman, who is one of the team leaders of Farmers for RonJon. “He understands the importance of agriculture to Wisconsin’s economy. Farmers appreciate his efforts to open new markets, curb over-reaching federal regulations, and remove the wolf from the endangered species list.”
Other leaders include Cody Heller of the Dairy Business Association, Austin Arndt from the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, and Bill Gnatzig of the Wisconsin Pork Association.
From the La Crosse Tribune:
Ron Johnson is too valuable to Wisconsin voters as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to be replaced by a career politician.
The first-term senator made that claim Friday morning at Steve and Sally Miller’s La Crosse County dairy farm, where Johnson picked up endorsements from state farm organizations in launching what his campaign called Farmers for RonJon, “major farm and agriculture groups, as well as more than 500 family farms, small business owners and workers in the agriculture industry.”
“I grew up working on a farm and helped build a company from the ground up,” Johnson said, “so I know firsthand how hard Wisconsin’s farmers and others in our agriculture industry are working to grow our economy, create jobs and feed our families.”
Cody Heller, president of Heller Farm Inc. in rural Alma Center, touted the importance of dairy exports to Wisconsin’s economy while tagging Johnson with the Dairy Business Association’s endorsement.
Joe Bragger, a Wisconsin Farm Bureau district director, described the organization as “100 percent behind Ron Johnson,” telling a story of how slow-as-molasses federal regulation killed a project on his own Buffalo County farm despite the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ approval.
…
“One of our top priorities is a functioning guest worker program,” Johnson said, one that would ensure enough workers to power Wisconsin agriculture.
