Ben Butler - Does Congress need more farmers and fewer politicians?

Many voters say Washington has become disconnected from everyday Americans. Would sending more producers instead of career politicians change that? Ben Butler is a ninth-generation Florida dairy farmer and Republican candidate for Congress. He joins the show to discuss his campaign, agriculture, and why he believes practical experience is missing in Washington.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hey, welcome back to the Lars Larson Show. It's a pleasure to be with you, and I'm glad to get to your phone calls and emails. A dairy farmer just called out Washington's promises for exactly what they are. Should Congress hire more producers and fewer politicians? Ben Butler is a ninth-generation Florida dairy farmer who's running for Congress, and he joins you now. Mr. Butler, welcome to the program.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Hey Lars, thanks for having me, sir.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

I've got some some roots. I I I I've never milked a cow, but I uh I actually went to high school in uh in Tillamook, uh, Oregon, which is a uh is home of the cheesemakers. That's the that's that's the name of the high school football team and all. And I had an awful lot of friends and family members who had worked on dairy farmers and grew dairy farms and grew up on dairy farms. So I feel very warm and fuzzy when it comes to dairy farmers.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Well, and Lars, I'm feeling at home because I've got a real good friend up there at Tillamook, um Derek Josie. And he's done a great job of sharing with the world at the Tillamook Dairy Farmer what dairy farm is about. So that's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

I never I never even realized the connection. I I went I went to school with some Josies. I mean, it's it's one of those towns where, you know, half the town is is like six or eight last names. And once you know one of them, you kind of know, you know them all. But it's it's a good thing. So why should Florida put a dairy farmer uh in the United States Congress?

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Well, ultimately, I appreciate the question, Lars. Ultimately, we need somebody that understands what uh what real hard work looks like, somebody that's actually had to balance budgets for a living, that's had a had to cut expenses. We need somebody who has managed a payroll, somebody who signed both sides of the check, and somebody that can be responsible both for our for our federal budget, but um, but more importantly, it um we just need those values up there in DC. There they're they have got a quagmire going on, and um we need more folks who have actually can get the job done up in D.C.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

I'm talking to Ben Butler, who's a ninth generation Florida dairy farmer. And Ben, before I go any further, where can people find you on social media so they can go to your website, learn more about your positions on all the issues, maybe even help you out?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Hey, Lars, man, I appreciate it. Well, website is ButlerforFlorida.com, and uh you can find us on social media, uh Butler for Florida, and uh both on Facebook, Ben Butler for Congress, Florida 09, on Facebook or or Instagram. Uh we've got a Twitter handle uh that is Butler for Florida, and um so I encourage you to follow along. We've got a lot of exciting things coming out, including some new exciting things today that I think we'll get to.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Well, let me ask you about that, and I have to warn you, there is a federal agency who would be happy to find me lots and lots of money if we actually use the full name of your latest campaign commercial. But let's say the shorthand is BS. What do people see in the BS campaign commercial?

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Well, ultimately, Lars, yeah, we talk BS. It it's uh Washington has a lot of bull crap that needs to be cleaned up, and we'll leave it as that. Just keep the PC on your show. Um yeah, I refer to it as manure or bull crap, but uh but essentially that's what we talk about in the campaign. Um yeah, I've referenced it already, but uh we have a spending problem in Washington. Uh we've got to get back to a balanced budget. Um ultimately the red tape, the regulation. As a farmer, as a producer, I have dealt with the alphabet soup of acronyms both at the federal, state, and local level when it comes to regulators. And in my volunteer gig, helping out with a state-level water policy agency, I have seen what federal leg regulation has done to getting work done, getting projects done. And when you take that federal mandate and you let the locals implement it, they can get these things done for a third of the price and in half the time. And so there's a lot of opportunity for cutting back our federal government. And um, so that that's a lot of what our commercial references. Uh, it's also folks not supporting President Trump. I mean, that's I have I've been on the I've been a supporter of President Trump from the very beginning, getting our American uh getting our American trade back in line, getting our American energy independence, our peace through strength military strategy, all those wonderful things. And we've got a pile of career politicians in D.C.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

You know, wouldn't it be nice though if if the people who actually are subject to the regulations had something to say about how they're done? Because I I talk to farmers too, my my family and I, we have a tiny little eight eight big piece of eight acres. Not it's we're just growing grass right now, but you know, and I don't mean the the wacky grass. I mean the the the grass that cows eat. Um but but it it seems weird because they'll talk endlessly about there's this rule, it doesn't make any sense, it doesn't actually do what the people who wrote the rule thinks it does, and it actually is getting in the way of actually getting things done. We could solve a lot of this if we could trim back a lot of that regulation, couldn't we?

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Exactly. There's a lot of federal regulations on the books that really should be handled at the state and local level. Um they're you know, they're intended for specific purposes, and that's some things, you know. Uh particularly, I mean, I look at the Army Corps of Engineers and the 404 um, oh putting water putting things in the waters of the United States.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

I bet you've run into that. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

I mean, that's yeah, you can get into all that. And um, you know, that is the great thing about uh about our country is that it is a country of Federated States. And um, you know, uh there we gotta get back at the federal government, we've got to get back to our core principles. And then if it's not a core principle, it needs to be back on the state and at the local level.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

I uh from your lips to God's ears, because I think that would be fantastic. By the way, I'm what I'm probably I I've heard from plenty of people who who like farming in Florida. And ordinarily you talk to the rest of America about Florida and you think about beaches and things like that, but you must live in a great part of the country. Do you even have to buy any hay at all when you've got the kind of climate that grows grass 12 months of the year?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Man, that's uh that that great point. Great point, and the answer is yes. You do um because it it's farming. Farming is left up to uh, you know, at the end of the day, Mother Nature rules. Um and this last year we had some of the some of the worst, and I'm talking, you know, talking from the center part of the state all the way down to South Florida, we had some of the worst cold snaps. We had weather probably about five or six nights, we're below freezing. Wow. And so we lost that grass crop, and then this spring was one of the driest springs on record. So um to that point, we had to do a lot of supplement, we had to buy a lot of hay. Um, you know, but um, but for the most part, if you're gonna grow grass anywhere year round, it is going to be Florida. We just had one of those fluke years this year.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Well, let me ask you something. In Florida, is there any because I always give uh California a hard time because they should be building water projects left and right. Is there the potential for that in a state that has an average height above sea level of I think six or seven feet?

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Well, it it it is uh it's six or seven feet. We've got um Florida, we we are blessed with plenty of water. Okay. Um it's just that the problem is it sometimes comes all at one time. And so how you manage that water, I mean, we'll get 50 on average 56 inches of rain every year. The problem is a lot of times it'll come 20 inches within a month. And uh and to your point, there are times of the year where we're measuring the water table at inches above the ground. So um, so it is certainly flood control and then managing that water is um is a very important part, especially when you start talking central and southern Florida.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

You guys now, Ben, I'm I'm up against the clock, but Ben Butler is a ninth generation Florida dairy farmer, doesn't have to buy much hay, but this last year a bit. His latest uh his latest campaign ad is called BS, except it's the full version of that, and we'll look forward to talking to him once he becomes a United States member of Congress. Ben Butler from Florida, you're listening to the Lars Larson Show.