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Local Farmers, Ranchers Expecting Help From Biden Administration: Here’s How

As COVID continues to affect supply chains across multiple industries, Farmers say they need help from the Biden administration. Between labor shortages and weather-related challenges affecting supply for all sorts of different foods, prices are starting to climb up. Meat specifically is beginning to see an uptick in price. However, local farmers and ranchers aren’t seeing any of those profits.

Top meatpacking companies are among the few that get a cut of the increased profits. It seems the Biden administration is looking to change that, as they seek ways to support independent ranchers and farmers. 

It’s clear that inflation is affecting products and industries across the board. However, now that our country’s leaders are taking matters into their own hands, many people are wondering: Will these efforts trickle down to helping many of the people that need it most?

Farmers To Receive Aid From US Government

The White House says they will allocate a billion dollars from The American Rescue Plan funds to aid independent processors. However, one long-time Texas rancher says they have yet to see any benefits from inflation. “We’re not seeing again at the local sale barns or on the rale or anything like that,” said Brian Rogers, owner of BCR Ventures. “It’s more on the packers that are seeing the inflation of prices and gain. We’ve yet to see that, we’ve yet to see that trickle-down effect.”

As a result, the Biden administration plans to step in. The goal is to bring equal distribution among the ever-important agriculture industry. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack says, “Well three primary goals will reference to our efforts. One is to improve farm income, secondly is to make sure that consumers have a choice in competition for their consuming dollar, and third to build a more resilient food system.”

In the meantime, some locals have gotten creative with their efforts to bring in extra cash flow. Rogers added, “They’ve done some of that privately feeding, privately marketed.You know farm fresh to table.”

Locals Voice Concerns About the Plan

However, implementing the Biden administration’s plan of action to help local farmers will hopefully eradicate that issue. Vilsack added of the plan, “And the result of doing all of that, and providing the capital, and providing workforce development will be that farmers will have more opportunities to sell their livestock into more markets.”

Technology set in place by the US also aims to bring down costs, as it frees some steps in the farm-to-table process. However, locals like Rogers simply hope the plan actually works. “We’re where it starts. So, we’re the first in the totem pole and usually it always ends up that all when it helps, and we get the governments to step in and help. It always starts at the top and we’re at the very bottom…It always seems like we’re the last one to ever see it.”