How The Biden Administration Plans To Combat Inflation By Helping Farmers
While consumers continue to struggle with high gas prices and skyrocketing food costs, The Chicago Tribune followed President Biden as he visited frontline farmers battling numerous issues contributing to ongoing inflation. While touring a corn, wheat, and soybean farm outside of Kankakee, Illinois, the president discussed the challenges posed by inflation on a global and local scale while laying out his plan to provide aid to American farmers.
Even as recent reports showed prices rising at a minimally slower rate in April, inflation remains at a 41-year high. Biden addressed the root causes of inflated prices, pointing the finger at Russia's invasion of Ukraine that cut off important supply chains of goods and caused major food shortages. The president noted that offering assistance to American farmers will help decrease food costs nationally and abroad by filling in agriculture industry gaps created by the war.
Biden boasted that American farmers are among the most efficient and productive in the world and vowed to continue supporting them. The administration plans to enact a number of programs that would offer assistance to struggling farmers, hoping to create a domino effect that might drive down prices for consumers as well.
President Biden's plan to help American farmers
According to Brownfield, President Biden's administration is supplying farmers with much-needed resources and programs to help support the national and global community as inflation continues to soar. Biden is focused on specific areas where he can alleviate challenges faced by farmers and hopes that additional resources might improve food supply and costs to consumers.
According to the USDA, farmers can increase their production and profits by double cropping, planting and harvesting two crops in the same field annually. President Biden notes that there are challenges that go along with this farming method and plans to offer double cropping insurance to an increased number of counties. This will give farmers financial security while producing more crops that are currently in high demand.
President Biden also announced that he would double the administration's initial investment in essential fertilizer production from $250 million to $500 million, lowering costs and increasing the availability of crop-boosting nutrients to farmers. The USDA also plans to enact a cost-sharing assistance program that will help farmers curb fertilizer usage while maintaining crop yield levels. The Chicago Tribune says that Biden also plans to continue supporting farmers and consumers by allowing the use of biodiesel fuel into the summer.
The president acknowledged the vital role of the agriculture business in creating food security and promised that we can win the fight against inflation.