FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture officials say the ongoing trade war has made farmers anxious, but there’s a number of other things for state lawmakers to work on to make careers in agriculture more appealing.

The interim Joint Committee On Agriculture spoke to a few agricultural leaders Monday, including Warren Beeler with the governor’s office.

He said there’s a few things to address as lawmakers head into the 2020 session, including how they disburse money to farmers in different parts of the state.

Another issue is getting more people into agriculture in general; not just farmers, but scientists and geneticists.

Beeler said the first step would be making agriculture more than just an elective in high school.

“By making it a science credit, we have the possibility of getting some of those better students over into the Ag class. And I will tell you, when you get them to the FFA like Representative (Brandon) Reed had come through, talking about the public speaking and all of the things many of us did in the room, came through that,” Beeler said. “We need good kids. We need all kinds, but we need those top-notch kids, and I think because we’re on the outside as an elective looking in, maybe they look past us.”

Kentucky Farm Bureau president Mark Haney said farmers have been struggling with ongoing uncertainty around global trade markets, so any help they can get is important.

He also said a key issue is access to broadband internet in the more rural parts of the state.

“If you can’t really operate and if you can’t operate the device that you’re working with because the speed is so low that you can’t even download the programming and you can’t even download the apps that you need to operate on, it’s pretty sad,” Haney said. “And its important to our members more now than it ever has been before.”

Haney also mentioned funding for rural road improvements and tax reform will be other items the Kentucky Farm Bureau will be following next year.