Secretary of State Candidate Lauri Shillings was one of several statewide candidates to speak at the podium, at Rapp-Owen Granary on Sunday afternoon, Aug 30.
“I know it's not often you get to hear from libertarians in Southern Indiana. Our presence is not very big,” she said.
There were also national county and township candidates.
Posey County Farm Bureau President Hans Schmitz said the farm bureau is very interested in state and local policies that can help agriculture as a business.
“Agricultural policy is extremely necessary to keep markets competitive and get our agricultural products that we produce here in Posey County to those that need them here elsewhere or around the world.”
He said in 2026, farmers need “a myriad of things,” from policymakers.
The Farm Bureau at the county, state and even national levels, have policy handbooks assembled, highlighting governance that would support agriculture.
They host these events every few years, and they can also endorse candidates. Schmitz said there are even things the sheriff can do to help agriculture.
“Farm Bureau would support more local sheriffs being able to actively prosecute nefarious UAV use,” he said. “So, if drones are flying over a field and shouldn't be, we would like local sheriffs to be able to take action on that and not defer to the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“There are definitely trespassing laws in the state,” he said. “And farmers working with local law enforcement to help keep trespassers out of fields and forests that agricultural producers manage is pretty important.”
The event provided candidates a 10 minute slot to speak and time for opponent rebuttals if needed. It was followed by an ice cream social to better get to know the candidates.
Schmitz said he learned about what the State Treasurer does.
“That's a position I'm not very familiar with, and her ability to explain kind of why she's running and what she plans to do was new to me,” Schmitz said.
“If you look at the state treasurer role, the handling of state monies and how those go back down to the local level and affect communities via property taxes, income taxes, withholding taxes, and other things are all things that farmers are paying into, and they have a vested stake in who would manage those funds."
Democratic candidate Coumba Kebe spoke about her career, and why she was running.
The only national candidate was IN-8 Democratic Candidate Mary Allen. At the state level, candidates for senate distinct 49, and house district 76 spoke. Unopposed Sheriff candidate Jeremy Fortune also participated, along with township candidates.
Schmitz said in 2026, local farmers are doing fairly well — not affected by either drought or flooding, which are affecting other areas.
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