Agriculture

Farmers are a critical part of the economy of America and particularly of Nebraska. It's a cliché, but the saying "If you have eaten today, thank a farmer" isn't wrong. My cropland north of Grand Island was planted in beans the first week of May. I am very concerned about the welfare of all of our farmers and agricultural workers. 

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Having grown up on a farm and having a life-long interest in agriculture, I have to stand up and be counted on these incredibly serious threats that are coming, not from outside our nation, but from within our own administration.​

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This is bad policy which is having worse consequences.  And all this thoughtless irresponsibility is rubber-stamped without appropriate Congressional oversight or approval. 

• Government mistreatment of migrant labor and immigrants critical to the running of many aspects of our agricultural industry. 

• Downstream effects of the cancelling of USAID which allowed farmers to send their surpluses to countries that need them, giving them an income while making sure that our agriculture production is stable.

• Drastic cuts to food stamps (SNAP) - an essential program which feeds hungry children and families but also helps to give farmers an income and stabilize agricultural production. 

• Increased costs for inputs for farmers, many of whom may not even break even this year.

• Collapse of foreign markets due to tariffs. 

​It's 2017 again only worse, and our farmers are again going to take the brunt of this. The tariffs on soybeans brought in the last time Trump was in government decimated the massive Chinese market for American soybeans, which has not recovered. 

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​THE FARMERS OF NEBRASKA DON'T WANT TO KEEP WAITING FOR HANDOUTS FROM THE GOVERNMENT. THEY WOULD RATHER JUST SELL THEIR CROPS FREELY AND FAIRLY. 

While action on China's unfair trade practices is certainly necessary and overdue, taking a chainsaw to our agriculture industry and putting farmers out of business is not the way to go about it. These policies do, however, have one effect that this Administration is aiming for: they will serve the interests of billionaires like our very own Pete Ricketts who will be able to buy up our agricultural land at pennies on the dollar. 

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CONGRESS COULD CHANGE ALL THIS TOMORROW, BUT THEY SIT IDLE, COMPLACENT AND COMPLICIT. WE DESERVE BETTER!