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| Ag Sec’y Brooke Rollins |
by C.J. Miller, Hoosier Ag Today radio network
It’s certainly been a tough time to be a farmer. In fact, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins has described the state of the ag economy as “dire”.
Hoosier Ag Today’s C.J. Miller recently asked Secretary Rollins to talk more about the current factors that are causing the state of agriculture to be in such a “dire” position:
“C.J., thank you for that question. So clearly, there are a lot of factors that go into this. But when you’ve got a $49 billion trade deficit, that is devastating to our American farmers and ranchers. $49 billion!
“When the cost of inputs went up 30 percent just in the last four-or-five years. I mean, how do any of our farmers make any money when the cost of inputs go up 30 percent, your trade deficit increases $49 billion now–and then, you have a whole host of regulations that have been layered on over-and-over-and-over again? So, there are a lot of factors.
“We are attacking it from all sides putting together the plan that can hopefully begin to roll that back. I am planning to very aggressively–with President Trump’s permission–go out into the world and look to expand our markets, and also make capital easier, especially for our younger farmers, as we begin to build hopefully the next generation of our leaders in agriculture.”
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