INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — With less than 80 days until election day in November, two Hoosier officials fight to fill the shoes of Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, who also currently serves as Indiana’s secretary of agriculture alongside Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Sue Ellspermann, a Republican from Ferdinand, Ind. and a state representative from District 74, joins Mike Pence as his running mate in the campaign for governor; while Vi Simpson, a Democrat from Elletsville, Ind. and a state senator from District 40, will serve as John Gregg’s running mate.

Just days prior to the start of the Great Indiana State Fair in early August, Republican candidate Ellspermann unveiled a policy proposal to promote Hoosier trade opportunities in agriculture and take another look at the tax structure for rural landowners as part of the Mike Pence campaign.

Additionally, Ellspermann said she and Pence would push to make Indiana a leader in agricultural innovation and boost agriculture educational opportunities.

“Agriculture and agribusiness have always been a key part of Indiana’s economy,” said Ellspermann. “World population is projected to grow 30 percent by 2050, which will create tremendous demand. With the right leadership and ideas, Indiana can be in a position to meet that demand.”

She added that a key to growing the agricultural sector is educating the next generation of workers in the industry. According to Ellspermann, a Pence-Ellspermann administration would improve coordination between the agricultural community and educators to design curriculum and programs needed to boost the skills of the agricultural industry.

Ellspermann also believes that under a Pence administration, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) should continue to lead efforts to promote agricultural trade and open new markets, increasing Indiana’s share of the international economic market in agriculture.

She called for ISDA to make it a top priority to support BioCrossroads’ recently announced initiative to create a Food and Agricultural Innovation Corridor in Indiana.

The BioCrossroads effort would leverage the state’s strengths in innovation and technology driven by Purdue University, ISDA and agribusiness such as Dow AgroSciences, Elanco, and a large number of other agricultural companies.

“The creation of a Food and Agricultural Innovation Corridor can make Indiana a national leader in developing new agricultural technologies and products, and commercializing them,” said Ellspermann.

Finally, Pence and Ellspermann recommend that the state take a broader look at Indiana’s agricultural tax structure.

“To make Indiana the state that works for farmers, we need to give Indiana the most competitive agricultural tax structure in the Midwest,” said Ellspermann.

Ellspermann said she and Pence would benchmark Indiana’s agricultural tax structure against other states and work with key stakeholders and the General Assembly to enhance the state’s competitiveness.

Simpson, who has served in the Indiana state legislature for 28 years will accompany John Gregg on the Gregg-Simpson campaign for governor.

“The Greg-Simpson administration will focus on job creation, especially in rural communities,” said Simpson. “We will be sure that ISDA is more directly involved in economic development projects for agriculture.”

According to Simpson, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation currently handles economic development efforts for the state.

“Unfortunately, IEDC has not had much of a rural focus, but I think there is room for additionally resources and focus to make sure that we have jobs in rural communities, and good schools to build a solid future for all Hoosiers,” she said.

Related to the drought, Simpson weighed in, adding that “Indiana is unlike many states in that we do not have a disaster relief plan.”

“We would work to create a security council made up of state and local government officials that would plan ahead for disasters in order to have an action plan in place to put into effect immediately. We also need to have a plan for recovery once the disaster has subsided. We need to do more at the state level to accompany the relief that is already available at the federal level.”

Simpson also promised that a Gregg-Simpson administration would advocate for the state’s agriculture industry at the federal level, particularly in encouragement of the pending farm bill.

“It’s imperative that we say with one voice – ‘We need a farm bill, and we need it now,’” she said.

Similarly to her opponent, Simpson wants to work to boost economic development in Indiana – seeing agriculture as a real bright spot for the state.

“The unemployment rate is trending up, something needs to be addressed,” she said. “But it’s not just jobs, it’s infrastructure as well – good roads are the lifeline of the agricultural community. We also need good schools. The current legislature (including Rep. Ellspermann) passed a budget with deep cuts in education and rural schools were hit hard. We need to invest in our local, rural schools and the next generation of Hoosier workers.”

Finally, an important component to both campaigns is Indiana’s tax structure.

According to Simpson, who worked with Farm Bureau for several years to develop a fair and equitable decision for all Hoosiers and especially farmers and landowners, a decision was passed in 2010 to support 1, 2 and 3 percent tax caps in the Indiana constitution.

“For one reason, the governor had no information on how caps affected property owners beyond four years,” said Simpson. “We were flying blind in supporting these caps. I strongly opposed tax caps that treat rural and commercial property too differently. It ought to be fair and equitable.”

According to Simpson, who brings to the table a strong background in fiscal issues serving on the state appropriations committee, “We are going to have to find alternative ways to provide relief to rural property owners, because we won’t be able to amend the constitution to change those circuit breakers. The important thing is that we should do something right away.”