Inflation is Devastating To Our Family Farms

Farming season is here, and unfortunately, due to supply-chain issues and rising energy costs exacerbated by President Biden’s policies, input costs are at a record-high. This has placed a huge burden on Central Washington farmers and will have a massive impact on this year’s harvest. A poor harvest does not just hurt a farmer’s bottom line, it hurts everyone up and down the supply chain, from the local community to the end consumer who faces higher food prices and even food shortages.

Farmers from across Central Washington are concerned because they simply cannot afford today’s prices. Now, some may argue that high commodity prices are offsetting these costs, but that’s simply not true. Skyrocketing and unprecedented input prices are robbing our farmers of their livelihoods, plain and simple.

The Biden Administration’s policies, from slashing domestic energy production and blocking essential workers from coming into our country to imposing onerous mandates on critical industries and failing to hold our trading partners to their commitments have directly influenced these outcomes. Those are the extreme policies that have led us to where we are now—and have put our nation’s food supply at risk.

Fertilizer prices have risen 40% in just one month and are up 300% since this time last year. That far outstrips the insane 7.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). And on top of that, the cost of farm diesel has risen 95%—helped along by President Biden’s decimation of America’s domestic energy production. Farmers need diesel to run their tractors and other equipment, especially during the busy spring farming season, and this administration’s policies are jacking up the costs.

And it doesn’t end there.

Amidst exponential increases on every single input, farmers are facing a new threat: a repeal of the stepped-up basis. For those not familiar, the stepped-up basis is a long-standing provision in the tax code that prevents heirs from paying capital gains taxes on inherited assets such as land, equipment, or buildings and is vital to protecting family farms across Washington state.

It’s almost as if President Biden doesn’t want agriculture to exist.

Between surging input costs, the highest inflation in 40 years, and unending regulatory burdens, this administration is failing our agriculture producers, accelerating a looming global food crisis, and jeopardizing our own food security and independence.

I have written several letters to the Biden Administration urging them to increase production of fertilizer inputs, including natural gas, and give our producers the tools they need to feed and fuel our nation.

I have introduced a resolution recognizing the important role of the stepped-up basis in preserving family-owned farms, ranches, and small businesses and opposing any efforts to impose new taxes on family farms or small businesses.

I have supported solutions to boost American energy independence and exports, allowing our country to be self-sufficient while lowering costs for every American.

I have introduced legislation to prevent the Biden Administration from requiring vaccinations for essential workers, like those in the agriculture and food industries, who are integral to the success of our supply chain.

Soaring prices are hurting families and businesses across the country, and our farmers are no exception. Producers all across Central Washington are worried, and rightly so. I will continue to urge this Administration to reverse their dangerous policies, provide relief to our agriculture industry, and secure our food supply chain. Our nation’s economy and security depend on it.