>> It's been 8 years since Kentucky commissioner of Agriculture who is charged with more than just telling farmers how to farm.

But getting those products to market meet the 2 candidates vying to be the state's add 2 Democrats, Sierra and low and Republican Jonathan Shell.

That's now on connections.

♪ ♪ Thank you so much for joining me today on connections.

As we wrap up our series of candidate interviews all month long, we've introduced you to the contenders and this year's statewide office contests to help you make an informed decision on November.

The 7th today the candidates for commissioner of Agriculture.

First we made the Democratic nominee's Sierra and low who grew up on a multi generation family farm in LaRue County and attended the University of Kentucky College of AG.

She currently serves as an economic development consultant.

Low.

It's good to have you.

It's nice to be here in a thank you for inviting me.

I think the last time I saw he was at Fancy Farm.

It's a much quieter here, isn't it?

>> He is much quieter.

I don't know.

Did it.

You know, it's certainly something need to be at Fancy Farm and see everyone.

Yeah, I had the opportunity this year to go chop up some of the barbecue and to run a couple my friends before it took So that was nice you know, to see all my college of agriculture friends and that my friends from different parts of the state.

Yeah.

>> Fancy Farm is not unfamiliar to you, but you had a definite role this time.

Yeah.

Previously you had done what?

When it comes to fathom?

This was I can and what number fancy Farmer was for me to attend.

It is the 4th time of it ended on a statewide campaign.

It's the first time of it ended.

>> As a statewide So I told people and have talked about this quite a bit about how much easier it is in some ways is the candidate that is as the staffer.

So it's really an experience to make sure Fancy Farm gets pulled off well, and they were there and participating in something that's a political tradition in Kentuckyian it was a great honor to be able to participate this year and then well, we as we have covered it for all of a couple of decades now.

It's so nice to be in western Kentucky, but also has disconnected.

>> Pham, Frankfort and from where the center of politics is.

But it's an enormous still agriculture.

Could rain be very close knit when you think about where you've been across the state, I'm sure that's how huge it has its own unique personality.

What are you learning about the state that you didn't know before you started this candidacy?

Yeah, it's been really interesting to travel across the state because every region of Kentucky really has a different issue that they're facing in something that they want to get from the commissioner of Agriculture.

>> And I'm very fortunate have grown up in the agriculture community.

So it's been a lifetime in western when I was a high when I was in college all the way through my cooperative extension extension experience and my involvement with different agriculture organizations over the course of my career here, what's been really interesting about this race is that agriculture doesn't just impact the rural Kentucky ends that we typically think about.

And I in this is something I've been talking about a lot on the campaign trail that every Kentucky in votes for the commissioner of agriculture because it really impacts every Kentucky ends live.

It's been interesting to see how that message plays for urban audience We typically think about agriculture in the Commission of Agriculture's office is doing work in production, agriculture, but it does a lot to help consumer the consumer side of the conversation.

So there's a lot of space in that feed.

Access space for commissioner of Agriculture to play an advocacy role to really make a difference.

There's a lot of space to and thinking about how we get at Kentucky Agriculture products to consumer basis and whether or not they're in our supply chain.

So when we think about a food manufacturer in Louisville or northern Kentucky, our Lexington or even in Mayfield, Kentucky, we have to think about how we're getting stuck in agriculture products to them.

I'm not necessarily how are increasing the number of cows on farms in Kentucky.

>> Good point.

Well, we do know that there are small number of family farms there used to be what kind of challenges are farmers facing in the AG community at large?

Not just those who are farm.

Yes.

>> So there are a lot of challenges the edge Kentucky farmers are facing.

I mean, the price of inputs is hard.

the price for exports is lower in some cases.

So they're normal market conditions that Kentucky farmers are facing.

And then there are all these other issues that make it hard to run a business in rural Kentucky.

The Kentucky farmers are facing when you think about a farmer having to have health insurance be able to KET their family farm in the family?

We have to have really good off the farm jobs to be able to do that in our rural communities.

It's very difficult to means back to your home community.

If you don't have an off the farm job and until we get better Internet access until we have, you know, stronger economic development in those communities that lenders are success to really promote young members of our families.

Moving back to those farming communities.

>> As you mentioned, you've got a long history.

General national history.

That recall to tell us about that.

Yeah, so it's not just a generational history in agriculture.

It's really a generational history of being involved in Kentucky politics and be involved in our local communities.

>> I'm fortunate to grow up on a family farm that's been in the my family for 5 generations.

So my great grand and then I just think grace that I yeah, been 19 0, 7, 1, of my great grandfather's was a Democrat state rep from 19 0, 7 and actually purchase the farm and ranch firms.

State rep position from that farm.

It went then to my grandfather, great grandfather, and then my grandfather who worked for Governor breath in my dad who now farms full-time there and has been involved heavily in the community and the agriculture community.

So I learned very early on when I was setting tobacco with my sister of how important but the agriculture and being involved in the political sphere in Kentucky, it truly is for air what we think about his rule, community values and Kentucky's future and I'm proud to be able to be a living impact of that legacy and and continue to get back to base my community in LaRue County and now hopefully get back at the statewide level as well.

>> So you know how to set to And there are a lot of things that I know that I didn't think I was growing up on a farm I told this story on the campaign trail all the time that it, you know, my dad made sure that my sister and I worked every day on the If it, you know, we started when we were 4, 5, a.

>> Working in the tobacco pash that continued through being involved in our family's livestock operations we were involved in 4 H and FFA and there's always something that, you know I was doing that was contributing to my agriculture education and also to really think about business in Kentuckyian think about being involved in that conversation.

The best thing about growing up on a farm is that you have a non-traditional education.

And so you're always ready to what time it holds to have to solve this problem and how could apply paying sudden unexpected to wait to make sure that task.

Yeah, being resourceful, right?

Yeah.

Do that.

Well, let's let's talk what maybe some of your goals are.

If you are elected AG commissioner, that in a lot of great programs that.

>> Previous at commissioners, the commissioner has has done.

What would you do?

Yeah.

And we've been very fortunate in Kentucky to have a great history of AG Commissioner set for its really hard for Kentucky But the office isn't just about Kentucky farmers and has a lot of additional responsibilities in the state legislature keeps giving an additional responsibilities.

>> It's important to think about how we're taking what we've done really well and preparing the but the agriculture industry and the office for the next 10 years with this industry looks like I mean, one of the things I'm gonna spend a lot of time focusing on is thinking about how we get our Kentucky Farm products from the farm gate into the corporate supply chain in advocating for farmers in corporate boardrooms because we haven't had the same, you know, space at the table when we're talking about workforce development, economic development advocating for markets that other industries in Kentucky have.

And I think that that's a great place for your commissioner of agriculture to advocate for Kentucky farmers is that those tables and in that space, I always tell people that you need 2 things to be effective.

Commissioner of Agriculture Union production Agriculture experience, which of our Heat Hudson and some of it.

And we've talked about some of my background in that space.

But then you really need business experience because this office isn't about telling Kentucky farmers how to farm.

It's about making sure that they can sell their agriculture products and that those agriculture products gets to get to consumers across Kentucky.

Yeah, Kentucky, proud you think is a good program.

Unsustainable.

And yeah, I'm committed to even taken that to a higher level.

Absolutely.

I think Kentucky proud to great start of where the commissioner of Agriculture needs to work in this conversation.

But it's really just the tip of the iceberg for that conversation.

And we've seen this universally across the state of Kentucky where we've sold Kentucky farmers, a lot of fairy tales.

And we've told them to raise a crop.

We've told them to Do X, Y and Z without thinking about are market president for it in Kentucky, proud helps identify some of those markets in advertising.

Differentiate Kentucky product.

But we need to really think about what that whole supply chain looks at.

And what we're telling Kentucky farmers in providing for what they should be doing from an economic basis.

For example, if the city of Louisville is going to work on recruiting, it takes the manufacturing facility to this, you know, to the city, the Kentucky farmers need to be part of that conversation.

So we need to talk about how are supply and soybeans to that facility.

I'm your commissioner of agriculture really should be working in that space to talk about those types of issues and talk about how we build that supply chain so that we're not selling fairytales to Kentucky to the Kentucky farmers right?

We look at the hemp industry that yeah, who were inside the industry would say they didn't quite live up to some of the We see some struggles with our Agra Tech industry.

Some of you not about those companies are really >> dealing with unfortunate situations.

What do you think about those types of things?

You see them unfold?

>> Yeah.

And I think hemp is a great example of again.

We sold a fairy tale to Kentucky farmers without thinking about what the market looks like for that crop and making sure that there were processors and retailers in place DAG Tech initiatives in Kentuckyian where we're going with AG Tech are really kind of radically different in the conversation because I think that those are the that's the direction we need to go for the industry.

We need to invest in bringing these this technology sector here in growing what technology sector exist.

I'm always talk about the agriculture industry as it relates to tech and fortunately have a lot of experience with tech businesses and working in the city of Louisville's tax strategy.

But agriculture is one of the few areas where their customers for startups and you have a built-in customer base and it's a great place to have a start-up because you have that built in customer base.

And we know that a lot of startups fail because they don't have their customers identified unsecured before they start the business we're in a perfect situation which we should be incentivizing those types of businesses in the AG industry because we have the customers and we know that the technology is going to allow our Kentucky farmers to be more competitive on U.S.. Markets.

We know another big issue was hunger.

>> Yeah, you know, there are one out of so many for 6 or 7 kids and one out of 6 or 7 adults that yeah, face hunger at any particular point of throughout the year.

What do you want to propose when it comes to anti hunger initiatives.

>> Yeah.

So that issue in Kentucky is 9 and just feed inequality, writ lacking access, it not being hungry.

It's truly blocking access to feed.

And one of the things I really want to work on is your next commissioner of Agriculture.

Is this concept of food access West Louisville is facing the same issues that counties like Trumbull County have where there aren't grocery stores in the community.

And it's not necessarily that people don't have money to go about feet.

It's that they don't have access to get about 8.

And that's where, you know, my experience is an economic developer and thinking about how we incentivise new operations in need.

Businesses comes in really handy.

I think you're next commissioners going to really advocate for a tax incentive that supports grocery stores locating in underserved communities.

And Kentucky is really unfortunate because we have a great sales tax model that we can apply.

Sales tax.

A new sales tax is an incentive to help those operations get started.

So that's something I'm looking forward to really be engaged in.

Also thinking about how we support the infrastructure of our food pantries across the state, feeding Kentucky, those that provide a great market for Kentucky farmers.

That's a great secondary market that provides stability.

In addition to helping make sure that Kentuckians are fed and we want to think about solutions like that that have multiple benefits and are truly something that has a business case of why we need to move this project forward.

>> Well, thank you.

See that low.

It's been great to sit down with you and speak with you.

And best of luck as does apply to us forward in the days ahead.

>> It was a pleasure speaking with you today, Renee, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again on the campaign trail.

Yes, thank you.

>> Stay with us.

As the Republican nominee, Jonathan Shell joins us.

He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and had risen to a prominent leadership position before losing his re-election bid and the May 2018 primary.

Jonathan Shell, it's a pleasure to have you here.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you for having me.

>> I you know, missed being around you because out here in the General Assembly for a bit and was even majority leader and a lot of people were shocked when that race didn't turn out in your favor you miss politics.

>> You know, I don't know that I miss politics because honestly have now for almost 2 decades and I could care less about the politics.

Part of my, you know, any more whatever.

I'm talking to my friends on the phone or we're talking about.

The realm of politics itself.

It's it's nothing that I actually care for.

You know, what I care about is being able to meet people where they are been able to find out what the needs of Kentuckians are.

And I look at government not from a political winds, but from a service lands and so getting in and doing the job and actually been able to accomplish things that actually move people forward, not not the bigger and not the not the things that don't matter, but the everyday things the families that are struggling to pay groceries, the families that are struggling to pay their bills.

The farmers that are saying all the input increases go up every single year and the revenues not, you know, the political part of it.

I could I could care less about, but it comes with it.

It does.

And you know, but I but you don't have to participate.

You have to involve yourself in it.

And that's, you know, through this campaign is probably the first one.

We're actually felt relieved of not being a part of that.

You we do have to raise the money.

We do have to do the things you know, that make political campaign successful.

But I don't get caught up in all the park and all the political stuff.

It's just it's just nothing that I actually enjoy.

And so I'd rather make the relationships meet the people.

And, you know, hopefully they'll trust in May what they see and, you know, I'm pretty authentic person.

I think there's not much put on to me and that's the way I'm going to govern will never get in there.

>> You wonderful advocate for children and and you all have a few little children.

Do yourself tell us about your family?

So, you know, I tell people this all the time, Renee, that if there is a commissioner of adoption and foster care, that's what a big run in 4 children and especially vulnerable children are probably.

>> My number one of first trying to help them.

I've got 2 adopted children myself.

I'm Allison Jackson's adopted my youngest daughter.

Grace.

Lim is about and then my wife and I have 2 of our own.

And, you know, there's nothing more special in my life than no one that you completely change somebody's situation by doing that.

And and the sad thing is, is that there's 1000 kids in the state of Kentucky in the foster care system that desperately need a loving home to be an and, you know, I try to get called the actions and a lot of places that I go.

1, 1, call to action that outside here today is that if you have a heart for children, it's not hard mail it.

You don't have to be a superwoman.

You don't be a Superman.

You don't have to have your life completely put together.

They just need a loving home.

Any the hug lady to bed lay in many somebody that cares about.

Yeah.

>> So I did talk about when you're in the Kentucky General Assembly had added due process when that didn't turn out your way.

You know, for I never wanted to hear my name in the halls of Frankfort Ver.

>> Eternity.

And so the clout that comes with that the, you know, the respect and the legacy, so to speak that.

But you get whatever your majority leader, your state representative, you know those things fate.

They're not a turtle.

And you know my my truth and my turtle outlook is in my savior, Jesus Christ and God, it's not anything are still here.

And so I never.

Wanted to be in Frankfort for my entire life.

I want to be able to do the job if I can make a difference.

And that's where I want to be.

And whenever I was recruiting candidates for the Republican Party to take over the House representatives, I can tell you, Renee, that the conversations that I would have with the men and women that we recruit is that if you're going just for your next reelection, then we don't want you as a candidate.

We want you to be able to go and make hard decisions that if you make hard decisions and government, you're going make people mad.

You may not win reelection.

And I think that's what people want.

You know, I think people are tired of politicians that get elected just for the sake of getting elected.

They're not there to actually do the job.

They're there for the clout.

They're there for whatever perks that they may see benefit them.

Rather.

They are to hear their names in the halls of whatever institution therein and and I think that we've lost a lot of what the American experiences and the American a purpose of politics that we have in government because we've elected people who only care about that.

But, you know, I've been really pleased with this campaign and how we've been able to motivate from a grassroots perspective of getting people involved that filled this disenfranchised in many ways in politics.

The word that they don't feel like their voice is being heard.

You know, your average American, your average Kentucky.

And that's out there.

You know, my wife and I we struggle to pay our bills.

I mean, I'm a farmer.

She's a nurse practitioner.

We've got 4 kids.

Yeah, and a lot of personally, Phil, Frozen out of the economy.

I personally feel frozen out of cultural experiences and I think that many Kentuckians feel the same way because whether it's you know, in this cancel culture that we have now you can feel free to express yourself in the way that you feel and you believe, you know, we've lost that American experience and you almost feel frozen out of it as an employer.

I feel frozen out of the workforce with getting people into my business.

You know, a lot of employers that are out there.

You know, we we tap these numbers of economic growth and economic development, all the jobs that we bring in.

But a lot of times in communities where we're bringing those jobs and there's already job vacancies.

And so you sit down to 5,000 jobs factory and all the small businesses around are having their people leave to go to that factory.

And so the small business owners in the state, they feel the economy, they feel frozen on the workforce.

And the people that I talked to, they feel frozen in their circumstances right now.

Whether you're a, you know, wealthy to the comparison of other people or whether you're middle income, what myself or my family or whether you're a small business owner.

It's hard to plan for the future anymore.

It's hard to be able to grasp beyond your current subsistence place to be able to look to the future to plan, not only for yourself, but for your kids.

Future and beyond.

And so you know what?

I've what I've really enjoyed about this campaign is that I feel like I'm going to have those conversations to understand people's plight and their areas better to where that I can see where this disenfranchisement this frozen.

This comes from.

I'm not saying that I've got the solution for.

I'm not saying that I'm going to go in there.

They wanted every by circumstances or change, but I feel it.

I understand it.

I know it.

And that's what they're getting.

Yeah.

>> Kid with you before we started taping about the number of miles you put on the truck.

And I remember back in 2020 when you campaign chair for U.S. at the time, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

>> And you put have 1000 miles on it just for perspective, he will have put about 130,000 a vehicle during this campaign about it right before now and 2021 to think that's the day.

But that's more than when you were out.

You know, a thing him and even one ever has recruited all those candidates back into the 15 for the 2016 sock.

We put about 75,000 on that.

I'm no stranger to the roads my friends, my wife occasionally that I think that not only could draw a map of the state, not only could I tell you 120 counties and probably the county But I could draw nearly all the major veins and arteries and those highways across the state of modern day.

Rand McNally.

Haha, the bad guys.

Remember growing up?

Why do you want to be AG commissioner?

You know for me whenever I look at the circumstances that we have in the state of Kentucky, I see nothing but You know, we as a lot of times don't realize how large in perspective that we are in that community, not only in the state but in the world.

We're 15th in almost every major commodity.

We're number one in cattle east of Mississippi were number 8.

Nationally and beef cattle.

Our numbers are great.

We've got amazing farmers in the state.

We've got amazing their culture that takes place on a daily basis right now is one of my favorite seasons and agriculture because it's harvest season.

And so a lot of our farmers are seeing the fruits of their labor as they go out, but also we've got all these farm markets that are out in the state that have pumpkin patches and corn mazes and the experience of been able to have a family or consumer get on your farm to see the faces of you.

Your dad, your mom, your kids, your employees.

That's one of my favorite times because I think that is where we shine.

The best is where we get people on the farm.

And so when I look at our culture and the reason that I'm running for this position is I see so much opportunity in the future of what we can grab.

And there are some challenges that we face.

You know, I've got 3 main things that I want to try and accomplish.

Now, most people that watch this or politically understanding they understand government.

They are sent a lot of the purposes and what the roles are.

You know, the Department of Agriculture's, one largest regulatory agencies and the stated it regulates anywhere from pesticides.

The bees to zip lines to gas, bomb gas pumps to roller coaster all kinds of the right.

Yeah.

And there's great employees at the department.

But whenever you look at it from a whole, it's kind of the voice of real Kentucky.

It's the voice of our cultures that connector between urban and rural.

And there's 3 main things that I really want to try to accomplish as a commissioner in the first one.

Is looking at AG is economic development looking at it as an industry itself and looking at the infrastructure needs that we have across the state of Kentucky.

You know, we've got amazing farmers.

We don't need better farmers.

We always need a better self.

We've got the best farmers.

We need everything else.

We need to assess.

We need marketers.

We need scientists.

We need people getting engaged in our culture from a collegiate level.

And beyond that, our understanding of what we need to replace in the secondary areas and in our culture, looking at a secondary manufacturing and agriculture looking at are hubs of the economic development around are greater ease in our institutions of marketing that come into play, where farmers are delivering products and then building off of that secondary manufacturing to really given a value add to these products instead of sending them out of the state.

Let's grow those businesses here.

Let's recruit those businesses to come in.

And that really lets look at this from an infrastructure standpoint of overland.

Were commodities are in the state where the deficiencies are and where the opportunities are to get private sector investment into the state or are built up to where we have Kentucky jobs in Kentucky.

Farmers coming together to make something special.

The second thing is on farm retail and local marketing.

You know, we've got a lot of farmers that are being pushed out into the workforce because farming is hard.

It's tough.

It's tough to turn a profit.

And so we've got a lot of people are being pushed out because they don't there's not enough local markets and marketing available to them, whether it's a non farm retail market or that you come in you by whatever product that is for me to flowers to pumpkins, whatever that is or whether it's a local farmer's market to get people inside and understanding of it because the closer we get people from the farm gate to the food plate, the more profitable, our farmers are and the more understanding of consumer is an educated on those things.

And that's the one of the biggest keys, educating consumers of what their nutritional needs are, what their nutritional values are.

And, you know, I think that we need to make a campaign in this state to tell people that it's it's healthy to eat lot more.

It's more healthy to eat locally.

In fresher to get the chemicals that are food to get more fresh food available to people.

And on top of that, whenever a look at the state in that same vein, we have hospital school districts in jail systems that have to have food on a daily basis every single day, 12 months out of the year.

But it has to come in and out.

We don't take full advantage of the opportunities that we need in the state to be able to market to those institutions at a value that they forward for farmers to also be able to flourish.

When you look at a hospital system specifically, you've got local farmers markets.

They do a great job in the east, especially at a or H. Where they do the double bucks program.

They basically give another prescription on top of the food stamps that people are able to get.

If they go to the farmers market by locally, they can almost double the amount of food that they're able to get.

When I look at that, a look at these vulnerable populations inside a Medicaid, welfare or food stamps systems.

There are some of the most unhealthy people that we have because of the situations that they have found themselves in.

And so if we can help to educate them, to get fresher foods inside of them from to from a text higher player standpoint, it helps to cut down on that baby's heart disease, stroke risk factors that are health related.

Those are 40 year solutions to the problems that we have currently.

But it also helps to make people healthier to maybe get them back into the workforce as well.

And so that's number 2.

The 3rd one is just being that voice to push back against a lot of the insane this that's coming out of Washington, D.C., from people who are bureaucrats sitting in a cubicle somewhere who have never stepped foot on a farm trying to dictate to us in rural Kentuckyian across America.

What they think that our value system should be and how we should operate our farms.

And it just doesn't work that way.

We need to be able to have a voice that's strong enough to push back against these things.

And I think one of the ways we have to do that is to work with inside the court systems to soon stop put a stalemate on a lot of the federal regulations that are coming down the pike.

And then on top of that is just educating not only the consumers but the general public on the intimacy that is farming, you know, that hands and the claim that hands in the dirt that scene that see go from a seed to something that you actually harvest produce and it helps make money for a farmer.

But it also helps provide food for the world.

>> Well, Jonathan Show, thank you so much for sharing some time with us.

We know you're really busy and we appreciate it.

Good luck.

And it stays ahead.

Thank your night.

Thank you so much for joining us today on connections.

And you can watch all of our candidate interviews online on-demand at KET Dot Org, slash connections.

Remember early voting begins November the second and goes through the 4th and of course Election Day is November.

The 7th stay connected with me on social media.

All the ways you see on your screen and follow the candidates on the campaign trail in this final stretch.

>> On Kentucky Edition week nights at 6.30, east earned 5.30, central.

Thank you for watching.

Take really good care.

And I'll see you soon.