National Corn Growers Association

Kendra Ricks

Agricultural Advocacy Authority

Kendra Keller Ricks is Director of Advocacy & Political Strategy at the National Corn Growers Association, where she advances agriculture policy through advocacy and stakeholder engagement.

When I first moved to Washington, D.C., I worked as a scheduler for a U.S. senator. I honestly had no idea how Washington worked at that point, but I quickly learned that showing up and telling your own story is one of the most powerful ways to shape policy. That lesson stayed with me. I've worked for farmer membership organizations since leaving the Hill, and I think that early experience is a big reason I've always believed in the power of grassroots advocacy.

That belief gets tested regularly, because people outside this world tend to picture faceless corporations with deep pockets when they think about modern agriculture. I get asked about corporate farms at least once a week, and have to explain that most farms are still familyowned and operated. Farmers are savvy businesspeople, but they're not wearing suits and sitting in office buildings overseeing vast holdings — at least none that I've met. Our real strength is farmers raising their voices together to improve the industry, not giant pots of money. I work for “Big Corn,” and I'm proud of that. We represent corn farmers from every part of the country, running every size and type of operation. Those farmers volunteer to take time away from their businesses and families to advocate for the corn industry.

Those voices are exactly what makes grassroots advocacy work. I'm in a unique position because I've seen a couple of clear examples of great grassroots advocacy recently. The House passage of year-round E-15 is one of the best examples. When things finally started moving quickly, we asked our farmer leaders to come to Washington and help push it over the finish line. Our growers visited nearly every House office to ask for a yes vote, and those grassroots voices mattered.

Just as important, if less dramatic, is what happens every summer when hundreds of corn growers come to Washington, as they did again a few weeks ago. They come for two reasons. First, to set the policy direction for our organization. It’s a fully grassroots process, with 127 farmers from across the country sitting in a hotel ballroom, debating real-world issues and deciding where the industry should go. Our staff takes that direction as gospel and works every day to make sure those grassroots priorities are represented. Being able to tell members of Congress that our policies begin with farmers is a tremendous asset.

Once the policy session ended, those growers headed to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. It’s an opportunity to explain how policy affects them in the real world while building lasting relationships with lawmakers and their staff.

I think grassroots advocacy matters more now than it has in a long time. With AI reshaping how we communicate and how people get information, putting a real person in front of a policymaker is invaluable. Hearing directly from someone whose livelihood depends on how legislation is written and how votes are cast carries a weight that technology can't replace. Agriculture has always relied on that strength, and it's a big reason we tend to punch above our weight in the policy world.

It might sound a little cheesy, but the best way to get anything done in this town, and honestly in life, is through relationships. This country was built on people finding common ground and figuring out how to work together, and grassroots advocacy is still the clearest example of that happening today.