Dedicated, hardworking Kansans support farmers. DOGE has targeted their office.

By: Jeff Darrow

I recently read a headline that reported how the Department of Government Efficiency closed the Topeka regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency.

DOGE, which is run by an unelected billionaire, claimed it was to save "millions." The truth is, the savings only come if the office remains closed for nearly a decade.

But something else was missing from the article: the story of the dedicated, hardworking Kansans who have filled those halls for years. I've had the honor and privilege to work at this regional office for 18 years and am proud to call these dedicated Kansans colleagues.

Make no mistake — we will soldier on with or without an office. We are united behind a common cause: to preserve and strengthen the economic stability of America's agricultural producers.

These dedicated USDA public servants work every single day to meet the needs of more than 117,000 farmers and ranchers across the state of Kansas.

These public servants make sure farmers have the freedom to select the crops they grow — from traditional row crops like wheat and corn to more specialized products like apiculture (bee hives) and fields for grazing livestock. They make sure crop insurance is both an affordable and effective means of protecting the livelihoods of these 117,000 Kansas families.

These public servants work to ensure that when the Kansas weather does what it does best — change — these farmers have some security in knowing they can protect their family businesses and livelihoods.

Drought, hail, disease, floods, even wind can sap the production from a crop in nearly an instant. In 2024, Kansas farmers lost $837 million dollars worth of production to these natural disasters.

So what did we do? We made $837 million available to make farmers whole.

This helped Kansas farmers pay for the seed, fertilizer, fuel, equipment and manpower needed to feed a world hungry for all things agricultural. This helped Kansas farmers pay for the land they've grown food and feed on for generations. This helped Kansas farmers preserve a way of life vital to the rural Kansas economy — as well as the economies of cities like Wichita and Topeka.

This would not exist without those dedicated public servants at the USDA Risk Management Agency.

Crop insurance touches every single one of the 105 counties in Kansas. Farmers and ranchers insure almost $7 billion dollars worth of agricultural production through crop insurance in Kansas. More than 3.5% of the total GDP for the state of Kansas.

Kansas feeds the nation. We feed the world.

So when you hear something on the news about DOGE closing an office in a small town near you, citing savings based on questionable assumptions, remember that there are real, hardworking Kansans that have been in those offices for decades keeping the Kansas economy going.

I hope my colleagues will continue the critical work to keep this great country running.

Offer up positive thoughts and perhaps a prayer that they are keeping their heads up and their eye on the ball. Because whether it is through crop insurance, a national park, a nuclear power plant, or your local VA hospital, you should know there is a whole team of public servants you never thought about keeping things running.

They are keeping this country running.

Jeff Darrow is a lifelong Topekan who has worked for the farmers and ranchers of Kansas for 18 years at the Topeka Regional Office of the USDA Risk Management Agency.