INDIANAPOLIS – Eggs and bacon.  Basketball games, county fairs, and livestock shows. Soybeans and corn. Indiana has many fantastic combinations. During the Jan. 22nd Bacon Bar and Brunch, the combination of corn, soybeans and livestock production was celebrated.

The Bacon Bar and Brunch is the annual legislative breakfast for the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) and the Indiana Soybean Alliance’s Membership and Policy Committee (M&P). On the 22nd, more than 200 farmers, lawmakers, legislative staff and ag industry stakeholders attended the Brunch at the Indiana Statehouse.

Among the most important customers for Indiana’s soybean and corn farmers are those who produce beef, pork and poultry. Corn and soybeans are a primary feed source for the farmers who raise livestock and poultry. ICGA and M&P wanted to make this association clear by offering homegrown Hoosier breakfast foods during the Brunch.

“We often say the best way to use corn and soybeans is to make bacon,” said M&P Chair David Hardin, a farmer from Avon, Ind., and a Hendricks County pork producer. “Indiana’s livestock and poultry farmers are important customers for our corn and soybean growers. We grow the feed for the pork, beef, dairy and poultry producers. By featuring these products at our Brunch, we are showing Indiana legislators how interconnected agriculture is in our state. They can see that we are coming to them with a unified voice.”

All the breakfast foods served at the event were connected to Indiana agriculture. The menu items included bacon provided by Indiana Packers, duck sausage provided by Maple Leaf Farms, turkey sausage provided by Perdue, and milk provided by American Dairy Association Indiana.

“The Bacon Bar and Brunch provides a great opportunity for farmers, agricultural professionals, and legislators to get together,” Hardin added. “We have been able to get some great one-on-one time with legislators to talk about some of the concerns that Indiana farmers have. We are our own best advocates, and we are their constituents. We don’t need somebody else to tell them our story about what’s important to us. They have been very receptive to the messages that we’ve brought here.”

The popularity of bacon can bring together people from different backgrounds.

“Community members and legislators don’t always have a connection to a working farmer as the farm population shrinks. The Bacon Bar and Brunch is a great opportunity to ensure that those connections are made between legislators and Indiana corn farmers,” said ICGA President Alan Dunn, a farmer from Michigantown, Ind.

On Jan. 21, farmers representing ICGA and M&P met with state representatives and senators about specific ag policy issues in the Indiana Statehouse. The two-day campaign at the Statehouse allowed farmers to reinforce their priorities to legislators. Some of those policy priorities this year include:

• SB 55 / HB 1398 – Agricultural Programs: Protecting soybean market development through fallback language in the unlikely event a federal program would cease.

• HB 1185 – Department of Agriculture: Updating and clarifying allowable uses of the Agricultural Market Development Fund.

• SB 230 – Department of Agriculture: Addressing staffing, roles, and requirements for soil and water conservation boards.

“The annual event provided an opportunity to have great conversations with legislators,” said ISA Chair Denise Scarborough, a farmer from LaCrosse, Ind. “It’s important to develop these relationships before you need your legislators. For example, my husband, Mark and I have made it a point to get to know our senators and representatives at both the local level and at the state level. By developing those relationships, we are more comfortable going and talking to them when we have an issue.”

This year’s General Assembly will wrap up its legislative work in February. Visit www.iga.in.gov to follow legislation during this session.