Budgetary issues continue to be a challenge as farm/commodity organizations attempt to strengthen the safety net for U.S. agriculture amidst a depressed agricultural economy, while other groups, such as hunger advocates, and conservationists attempt to protect their programs.

Class XI of the Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program recently returned from an agricultural study tour of Austria, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. These countries are approaching nearly thirty years of transition from a centrally planned economy under communist control to a capitalistic market-based economy.