{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-tuberville-in-agri-pulse-the-dire-state-of-the-american-farm-economy/", "ICYMI: Tuberville in Agri-Pulse: The Dire State of the American Farm Economy", "2024-09-26", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AL", "Tommy Tuberville", "T000278", "www.tuberville.senate.gov", "tuberville", "https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cSenate Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration refuse to come to the table to find practical, bipartisan solutions to the many problems our farmers are facing.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Tuberville (R-AL) penned an op-ed in Agri-Pulse on the rapidly deteriorating state of the agricultural economy, accelerated by the harmful policies of the Biden-Harris administration. In the piece, Senator Tuberville called for the Senate to get to work on passing a Farm Bill that will give our farmers the help they so desperately need.\n\nEarlier this week, Senator Tuberville spoke on the Senate floor demanding the Biden-Harris administration protect farmers amidst historic inflation. Also, he spoke on the need for Congress to consider supplemental appropriations for the rapidly deteriorating agricultural sector. Considering the dire state of the ag economy, additional funds would not go into producers\u2019 pockets, but would help provide certainty to their cash flows, allowing them to renew farm loans and put a crop in the ground next year.\n\nRead excerpts of the piece below or here.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s farmers and producers are the backbone of our nation\u2019s agricultural economy and food security. Despite their critical role in our lives \u2013 to feed, clothe, and fuel not only the United States but the entire world \u2013 our farmers are struggling to survive.\n\nThe current state of the agricultural economy is bleak. Input costs are rising, commodity prices are falling, and our farmers cannot break even, much less make a profit.\n\nAccording to the Department of Agriculture, net farm income this year is projected to decline 4.4% from 2023. This follows a shocking 19.5% decline from 2022, which means farm income has seen a drastic 23% decline from just two years ago. These figures represent over $40 billion in lost revenue for America\u2019s hardworking producers, the largest two-year decline ever.\n\nRow croppers are facing the worst financial blow of all farmers, with a $27.7 billion decline in cash receipts since last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.\n\nIn Alabama, producers are yielding bumper crops of cotton, peanuts, corn, and soybeans, yet they can\u2019t make a profit due to rising costs of production.\n\nA multitude of factors over which producers have no control are impacting their bottom lines. These include a lack of domestic energy production, skyrocketing inflation, rising costs of labor and the H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), and the increased price of feed, fertilizer, and pesticides. Issues plaguing American producers have only been made worse by the harmful policies of the Biden-Harris administration.\n\nAmerica\u2019s agricultural producers are facing a tough road ahead. Many fear that their farm loans may not be renewed, cash flows will dry up, and interest rates on the money they need to borrow to operate farms will continue to rise.\u201d\n\nSenator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans\u2019 Affairs, and HELP Committees.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:46:43Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-tuberville-in-agri-pulse-the-dire-state-of-the-american-farm-economy/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4442980755120516, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}