b'Dont Get Bogged Down WhenIt Comes to Ag PolicyThe best way to wade through the effect of policy on agriculture is to look at the bigger picture.Ashley RobinsonWHEN IT COMES TOpolitics, theres a lot of moving parts.Its not necessarily their job to understand how a seed busi-Those pieces impact wide swatches of society, includingness works or understand how long it takes to breed plants or agriculture. Theres a lot to pay attention to, but to make the big- understand the labor implications. And so good politicians are gest impact you should take a step back and look at the wholegood at listening and take the opportunity to hear from their picture. constituents, Klieger adds.Understanding how policy is going to impact your businessWhich is why agriculture education and being willing to is important. I think that giving that perspective to help ensureexplain issues to politicians is important. For politicians, they that the policy is beneficial to you is critical. But you dont actu- want to have people share this information with them so that ally need to be an expert on all of this, Michelle Klieger, presidentthey have a better understanding when making policy decisions, of Stratagerm Consulting, says during a recent episode of SeedMacCallum says.Speaks. I think theres value to being aware. I would be carefulTaking those opportunities when you have them, being how much time you invest. involved, and meeting with local officials, and or provincial, To wade through policy and discover what impacts you andnational officials, is really important to ensuring that they get that the agriculture industry the most, Klieger suggests following aggrassroots information about how the work that theyre doing is sources, news sources, and policy outlooks. She does add itsimpacting those on the ground, she explains.SWhard to always understand the connection to ag, which is why it can be helpful to read line by line breakdowns of what is being discussed and how it is going to be interpreted.ON THE WEBMost people expect to see that gut reaction of how itsWHERE going to impact your business, or your life, especially when the intention wasnt for ag. And so the intention was to do (createWatch the full conversation at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of1_CvDAVj8a policy) that is generally very positive or acceptable. But they didnt think about the impact on ag, Klieger explains.On the politician side of the equation, theres a lot for them to consider when making policy decisions, Phyllis MacCallum, pro-gram manager for AgriLMI and AgriDiversity for the Canadian Agriculture Human Resources Council, says during the episode.Im not sure if its that ag isnt thought of at all in it. But there are a lot of players that have to be considered, she adds. For many that we deal with here we do have producers around the table, we have industry representatives around the table. But it is about ensuring that everyone does have a voice.The job of politicians isnt to know everything, Klieger says. Politicians are meant to make decisions for policy and by doing so shape society and impact the lives of people.OCTOBER 2023SEEDWORLD.COM /45'