[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4588-S4589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Agriculture and Inflation

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yesterday afternoon, Democrats and the 
President gathered at the White House to celebrate their so-called 
Inflation Reduction Act--a bill that will do absolutely nothing to 
reduce inflation.
  You don't have to take my word for it. The nonpartisan Penn Wharton 
Budget Model said this about the bill's impact on inflation:

       The impact on inflation is statistically indistinguishable 
     from zero.

  ``[S]tatistically indistinguishable from zero.''
  Or you could take the word of the Democrat chairman of the Senate 
Budget Committee, who admitted on the Senate floor right here that the 
so-called Inflation Reduction Act would not reduce inflation. That is 
right.
  To describe yesterday's celebration at the White House as tone deaf 
would be putting it mildly. Democrats had a big party to celebrate a 
bill that may fulfill some of their Big Government fantasies but will 
do nothing to fix the inflation crisis facing our country. Meanwhile, 
Americans were dealing with the release of August inflation numbers, 
which were even higher than expected and made it very clear that the 
soaring prices will continue for the foreseeable future.
  One of President Obama's top economic advisers noted yesterday:

       Today's CPI report confirms that the US has a serious 
     inflation problem. Core inflation is higher this month than 
     for the quarter, higher this quarter than last quarter, 
     higher this half of the year than the previous one, and 
     higher last year than the previous one.

  That is from one of President Obama's top economic advisers, who made 
that statement yesterday.
  Yet Democrats and the President somehow thought yesterday was a good 
day to celebrate fulfilling some of their Big Government fantasies.
  I guess Americans struggling to afford their soaring grocery bills 
can be comforted by the fact that, thanks to Democrats' legislation, 
their tax dollars will now be going to fund electric vehicle tax 
credits for wealthy Americans, not to mention road equity and 
identifying gaps in tree canopy coverage--yes, provisions in the bill 
that they were celebrating yesterday. Meanwhile, the pain of inflation 
is permeating every aspect of our economy.
  During the month of August, I spent a lot of time traveling around 
South Dakota, and naturally I spent a lot of time talking to farmers 
and ranchers. One thing I heard over and over is the toll that 
inflation is taking on agriculture.
  In addition to the normal challenges every American is facing from 
inflation, like high utility bills and high grocery prices, farmers and 
ranchers are facing massive increases in the price of essential inputs 
like fertilizer

[[Page S4589]]

and fuel. Under the Biden administration, farm production expenses will 
reach a record high this year. Fertilizer prices are on track to 
increase by 84 percent--84 percent. That is a staggering increase. Fuel 
prices are on track to increase 65 percent. And there is no end in 
sight.

  Farmers are facing a huge increase in interest costs thanks to a 
combination of higher interest rates and record-high farm debt. Gross 
farm income is actually supposed to reach a record level this year, but 
those gains are expected to be entirely wiped out by inflation--and 
then some. Thanks to inflation, net farm income is expected to 
decrease. At a time when gross farm income is expected to reach a 
record level--14 percent higher year over year than last year--net farm 
income, inflation adjusted, is actually going to go down because of the 
impact of inflation.
  Meanwhile, Democrats were at the White House celebrating a bill that 
will not only do nothing to address our inflation crisis but will drive 
up energy bills for American farmers and American families.
  Agriculture is the lifeblood of my State of South Dakota, and 
addressing the needs of farmers and ranchers is always one of my top 
priorities here in the Senate. While it is, unfortunately, going to be 
difficult to stop Democrats from prolonging our inflation crisis as 
long as they are in charge in Washington, in the meantime, I am doing 
everything I can to make life easier for our farmers and ranchers.
  One of my top priorities right now is preparing for the 2023 farm 
bill, to make it as effective as possible in addressing the challenges 
that are facing our farmers and ranchers. I have been holding 
roundtables in South Dakota to hear directly from producers about their 
priorities for the farm bill. So far, I have held roundtables covering 
row crops, conservation, and livestock. I also participated in a farm 
bill panel at Dakotafest and an Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce farm 
bill discussion at the Brown County Fair.
  I look forward to continuing to receive input from producers as the 
time to draft the farm bill approaches. I have also begun introducing 
legislation--based on my conversations with farmers and ranchers--that 
I will work to get included in the farm bill.
  In March, I introduced the Conservation Reserve Program Improvement 
Act, which would make CRP grazing a more attractive option for farmers 
and ranchers by providing cost-share payments for all CRP practices for 
the establishment of grazing infrastructure, including fencing and 
water distribution. It would also increase the annual payment limit for 
CRP, which has not changed since 1985, to help account for inflation 
and the increase in land value.
  In May, I joined Senator Klobuchar to introduce the Agricultural 
Innovation Act. Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture collects 
reams of data on conservation practices. The problem is that a lot of 
this data is often not analyzed and presented in a way that would be 
useful for farmers and ranchers.
  The legislation Senator Klobuchar and I introduced would provide for 
better processing and development of the data that the USDA collects so 
that farmers and ranchers can evaluate the impact of conservation and 
other production practices on things like soil health, crop yields, and 
profitability. Our bill would make it easier for farmers and ranchers 
to decide what conservation practices to adopt by, among other things, 
helping producers identify the ways that adopting conservation 
practices can improve their bottom line.
  In the next couple of weeks, I will be introducing another piece of 
legislation for the 2023 farm bill to improve the effectiveness of 
livestock disaster assistance for producers. Too often, producers find 
that accessing disaster relief programs at the Department of 
Agriculture is an arduous and lengthy process. I am working on 
legislation that would make it easier for farmers and ranchers to 
access the Livestock Forage Disaster Program and the Emergency 
Conservation Program so that producers can receive timely assistance in 
the wake of natural disasters like drought and flooding.
  The U.S. Drought Monitor plays a critical role in triggering USDA 
disaster assistance, and I am working to build on my previous efforts 
to improve weather monitoring and the accuracy of the Drought Monitor.
  This isn't a farm bill issue per se, but I am also introducing 
legislation today to prevent Democrats from using funding in the 
recently passed and misnamed, as I pointed out earlier, Inflation 
Reduction Act to monitor livestock methane emissions.
  It is very clear that elements of the radical environmental left 
would like to see U.S. livestock producers out of business entirely. My 
legislation is designed to forestall future attempts to curtail beef 
production by preventing the Biden Environmental Protection Agency from 
using funds in the Democrats' bill to monitor livestock emissions.
  Agriculture is a challenging way of life. In addition to backbreaking 
work in all weather, our Nation's farmers and ranchers have to contend 
with the uncontrollable whims of the weather, which can wipe out a herd 
or a crop in a day. And as if the actual challenges of the job weren't 
enough, over the course of the Biden administration, our Nation's 
farmers and ranchers have had to deal with soaring inflation.
  I am incredibly grateful for all the South Dakota farmers and 
ranchers and all of our Nation's farmers and ranchers who continue to 
persevere during these difficult circumstances. I will continue to do 
everything I can in Washington to make their jobs easier and to support 
them as they do the essential work of feeding our Nation and the world.