Op-Ed

Food production is an arduous industry. Between high input costs and regulatory barriers to economic uncertainty and supply-chain bottlenecks, farming has only become more difficult than it already is, pinching our producers’ bottom lines and making every dollar earned worth less. However, in Iowa, even as other states attempt to regulate how we raise our animals, our farmers don’t complain. They work long hours on tight budgets to feed our country and the world.

On June 28th, President Biden traveled to Chicago — the epitome of failed liberal policies — to tout the so-called successes of his economic agenda, which he has coined “Bidenomics.” According to the President, “Bidenomics” has unleashed the greatest economic boom in American history. Allegedly, thanks to his economic plan, prosperity abounds, families thrive, our economy grows, and small businesses succeed. Those who don’t see the benefits of “Bidenomics” just haven’t been watching — according to Biden, of course.

Homeownership forms the core of the American dream. A home allows families to build equity, plant their roots and, most importantly, make lasting memories.

However, due to the bleak state of our economy, that dream is out of reach for too many families in rural Iowa.

Exports are essential to our agriculture community and rural economy in Iowa. In 2021 alone, Iowa exported nearly $14.3 billion worth of agricultural goods, including $3.7 billion in soybeans, $3.1 billion in corn, $2.7 billion in pork, and $592 million in beef. However, every producer fears a foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak that could devastate flocks and herds, preventing our farmers from selling their high-quality product on the global market.

Iowa and California are very different places — and that’s a good thing.

While California families pay upward of 13.3 percent in state income tax, Iowans enjoy substantially lower and fairer tax rates.

California boasts the most expensive real estate market in the nation, with an average home price of roughly $737,000. In Iowa, affordability is paramount. The average home price in our state is roughly $168,000.

Well over two years in, the Biden administration clearly is failing to represent US economic interests on the global stage. And perhaps the best example is how it’s handling the international tax negotiations at the OECD.

Over the course of Biden’s time in office, this administration has enacted billions of dollars of new taxes on American businesses and has proposed trillions more. At the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the administration found common cause with their international counterparts, all agreeing on higher taxes for American companies.

Thanks, in large part, to President Joe Biden’s tax-and-spend policies, the state of the American economy is bleak. Wasteful government spending fueled the worst inflation crisis in more than forty years, small business optimism has plummeted, interest rates on everything from home mortgages to car loans continue their devastating trajectory upwards, and the cost of farm inputs remains historically high. Left unresolved, these economic challenges will spell disaster for American prosperity, productivity, and competitiveness.

Agriculture is a capital-intensive industry. From buying fertilizer, seed, feed, and pesticides to purchasing new machinery, Iowa farmers and producers must maintain a tight budget to turn a profit and feed our country and the world.