Kansas Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts did what he could Tuesday morning to assure wheat, corn and milo producers from across the state that farming would survive the current political rancor and regulatory binge taking place in Washington, D.C.

"We must do what we can to provide a safety net for farmers," said Roberts, who is now the senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. However, "I’ve never seen a Congress so out of touch with production agriculture."

Roberts was joined by former Congressman Larry Combest, R-Texas, who served on the House Ag Committee, at the 2011 Kansas Commodity Classic held Tuesday at the Highland Hotel and Convention Center in Great Bend. During their segment of the day-long event, they offered their observations and took questions from the audience.

The classic serves as the annual convention for the Kansas Corn Growers Association, the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and the Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association, said Sue Schulte, communications director for the corn and sorghum groups. Held annually, it moves from community to community around the state.

"It gets producers a chance to get together and discuss policy, markets and whatever topics are important to them," Schulte said. Hot topics this year include biotechnology and new crops and the upcoming 2012 congressional battle over a new Farm Bill.

In the current budget-slashing frenzy, many in the nation’s capital see agriculture as a prime target, Combest said. "It’s going to be a challenging session." Both parties are being tugged by the more extreme elements within them.

"We will do our part, but not more," Roberts said of agriculture’s willingness to help balance the budget. As it is, farm programs account for a quarter of 1 percent of the federal budget, a number that has actually gone down in recent years.

Everyone needs to be willing to make changes, Roberts said. They just have to make sense.

"We have a good story to tell," Combest said of the ag industry. Sadly the average person doesn’t hear it enough. "This is the message we need to continue to send."

Because of all the hullabaloo raised by the new Republican majority in the House and a smaller Democratic majority in the Senate, there are a lot of expectations. "There will be more scrutiny on this Congress then there has been in our lifetime," Combest said.

A lot of decisions, the two men said, will be made based on politics not on what is best for farming.

That brought Roberts to a pet peeve of his. "We need to roll back some of these damn-fool regulations" imposed by various federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency. "The costs exceed the benefits." This comment brought a round of applause from the crowd.

He cited as an example a proposed rule that would require dirt roads to be watered down to prevent grain trucks from kicking up dust.

The two also addressed the continued need for crop insurance, crop research and the need for a mixture of fossil fuel and alternative energy development.

In addition to Roberts and Combest, speakers covered weather, climate and market outlooks, drought-tolerant corn and the future of wheat breeding. Roberts also gave an address during the lunch session.

"We hear a lot and we learn a lot," said Hoisington Farmer Jerry Morgenstern. However, it becomes a matter of putting these good ideas into practice.

The classic also reinforces what most ag producers already know – there is a lot of uncertainty in farming. "There are a lot of scary factors," Morgenstern said.

Such things as the weather and crop carry-over stocks impact prices. "These are all things we can’t control. We fertilize, plant the best hybrids. It’s a crap shoot."

Morgenstern and many farmers struggle with marketing their crops. In a time when input costs, for such items as fuel, are on the rise, any advice they can get from such gatherings is helpful, he said.