Liberal Forum

Small farmer here. I’ll sum this up real quick. Big ag gives big money to politicians who vote against bills that would help small farmers. It’s illegal for me to process an animal and sell it off our farm. We are forced to take to a USDA facility where a USDA inspector stands there while the animal is put down then they go back to their off. This adds cost and in our case there is a single processor with a 100 miles. The death tax makes it all but impossible to pass off land and assets. Your neighborhood was once someone’s living. Lastly it y’all. You want 3.99 hamburger, we can’t produce it for even close to that- 4 processors control 70% of the beef market and they don’t compete with each other but keep it low enough to undercut local farmers. BTW that steak that was stamped USDA was more than likely raised in South America- the slab is stamped once it enters the US. Fun fact. Cattle farming is the leading cause of deforestation of the rainforest. Some 80%. Getting locally produced beef is about the greenest thing you can do to help the planet. Not to mention our cattle stay on grass until the very end. No feed lots, no crowded pens, no stress for the animal. USDA needs a serious overhaul.