Update from Sen. Spencer Deery

Local Family Farms to be Featured During 2023 Indiana State Fair

I believe it’s appropriate that we create opportunities from time to time to honor our state’s farms, especially our family farms. After all, agriculture contributes $35 billion to Indiana’s economy each year and we are among the largest agricultural exporters in the world.

This week, the Indiana State Fair and Corteva Agriscience announced the Featured Farmers who will be recognized during this year’s fair.

For the last eight years, the fair’s Featured Farmers program has celebrated family farms throughout Indiana.

Just 18 are selected and this year two farms from Senate District 23 will be honored:

Morgan Brothers, LLC, from Vermillion County. The farm produces corn, soybeans and wheat, and will be the Featured Farmers on Sunday, July 30.

Able Acres Polled Herefords, from Montgomery County. The farm produces beef, corn and soybeans, and will be the Featured Farmers on Saturday, Aug. 5.

Founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington believed that farming, with its culture of independence and connection to the land, was among the most important in our republic.

I agree, and I am happy to see these great farm families get the recognition they deserve.

State fair visitors can attend a live chat with these farms at 2:30 p.m. each day in the Glass Barn.

The 2023 Indiana State Fair will run July 28 through Aug. 20 and will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Addressing Indiana’s High Health Care Costs

The high cost of health care is a major issue for many Hoosier families. This session, I supported a new law designed to help lower health care costs for Hoosiers.

This new law has three key parts to help drive down costs:

• It institutes “truth in billing” for Indiana’s largest hospital systems, which could save Hoosiers millions of dollars by prohibiting hospitals from charging higher rates at doctor’s offices.
• It requires insurers and health plan administrators to share health-care claims data with employers who sponsor employee health coverage so employers can negotiate better coverage for their employees.
• It requires a study of commercial health plans for services at the state’s largest hospital systems in order to more precisely gauge how Indiana’s prices compare to surrounding states.

By helping ensure Hoosiers can afford health care, Indiana can continue to foster healthy families and develop a strong workforce, which is key to our state’s success.

–Spenver Deery is a State Senator that serves in Senate District 23.