This week, inflation soared 8.5% to a new 40-year high, and it’s making everything more expensive. Farmers in Eastern Washington have told me that the cost of operating has skyrocketed – and they’re right. In some cases, the price of fertilizer has increased by more than 200 percent! This is unsustainable. 

That’s why I recently urged President Biden to take action right now to lower the cost of fertilizer by directing USDA to provide additional support for farmers facing financing difficulties and increasing US gas production and approving US natural gas exports. 

Surging prices are a serious problem because when it costs more to feed the cattle, fertilize the crops, and put gas in the tractor, farmers are given no choice but to raise their prices. This is bad for business, and it’s bad for families already struggling to put food on the table. 

It’s time for the president to work with Congress and get serious about reigning in the out-of-control-spending that is devastating our agriculture community and get our economy back on track.