Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the National Corn Growers Association, CropLife America, and Renewable Fuels Association. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary –
I have 5 different issues to bring up today.
1. Here is something proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that will cost family farms and small business agriculture a lot of time and money. They want to require corporations to report on greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chain. Farmers are part of that supply chain. The American Farm Bureau Federation is right. It would increase agriculture costs that are already going up.
2. Putin’s war in Ukraine is front page every day. Russia’s military is stealing hundreds of thousands of tons of Ukrainian wheat. They are stealing vegetable oil also. Russia and Ukraine are the biggest exporters of wheat in the world. However, Ukraine is not able to export on the Black Sea. Russia has shut that door. The countries that rely on that food supply are very concerned, as they should be.
3. An incentive to encourage more U.S. production has been suggested. The idea is to offer an extra $10 per acre to farmers if they double crop wheat and soybeans. Some farms do that now. I have done it in years past. But you can expect to experience a lower yield – especially from soybeans. We have very good prices for wheat and soybeans now. I think most farmers will make the judgement of their farming practice that will bring in the most money. We shouldn’t be trying to subsidize this farming decision.
4. The Homeland Security Secretary has created a “Disinformation Government Board.” That is scary. Government departments can be very political. They will strive to shut down any free speech that doesn’t agree with them. The media is supposed to evaluate the issues and give us the facts. I know they have not done the job they should but handing that job to a politically appointed government department would be complete surrender.
5. Last subject: here is a “very sobering picture” said Gene Dabaro who has headed the Government Accountability Office. “Our federal government faces an unsustainable fiscal future.” We are all aware that if we keep running a big budget deficit our government will have to just borrow more money. And with interest rates going up, that borrowing will cause our debt to skyrocket. Think about the money we are spending to support Ukraine.
Until next week, this is John Block reporting from Washington, D.C. If you would like to review my radio shows going back more than 20 years, just go on-line to www.johnblockreports.com.
