Inflation is ‘front and center’ for agriculture and other sectors as Washington lawmakers fight over ways to control it ahead of the November midterm elections. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says farm families are facing tough pocketbook issues at the Iowa State and county fairs this year.
“We are in a recession, and a lot of these families that normally are exhilarated by the thought of spending a week-and-a-half away from home with their livestock, with their projects, now are struggling because that cost away from home is going to impact their families,” she said.
And not just away from home.
“The added cost of diesel fuel has hit our farmers really hard. A 300 percent cost increase in fertilizer. Many of these families that love to celebrate at the Iowa State Fair are going to be struggling,” she said.
Ernst claimed at the Senate GOP leadership’s weekly press event that the Democrats’ new slimmed-down climate and healthcare bill will add job-killing tax hikes and spike inflation. Not so, argues Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Leading experts confirm the Inflation Reduction Act lives up to its name. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, by no means a liberal group, affirmed that quote, almost every one of this bill’s policies, in and of itself, will fight inflation. And on the net, the entire package most certainly will,” he said.
From its historic climate and energy efficiency spending to its push to lower prescription drug prices. Republicans cite other economists at the Penn Wharton School of Business and Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation that argued the bill Schumer hopes to bring up as soon as this week will add to inflation or have no effect.
The NAFB contributed this story.
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.