Jones, Sparks: How Much More Can Alabama Farmers Take?

From the Jones campaign

August 22

Birmingham, AL — Today, Doug Jones and Ron Sparks blasted the federal government’s decision to allow 300,000 metric tons of imported beef into the United States tariff-free, saying Alabama cattle producers are once again being asked to absorb the cost of policies made by politicians who do not understand what it takes to keep a farm running.

“Donald Trump promised to bring prices down. Instead, he’s trying to do it on the backs of American and Alabama farmers,” Jones said. “Alabama cattlemen are already getting crushed by the cost of fertilizer, diesel, equipment and everything else it takes to stay in business. Flooding the market with tariff-free foreign beef isn’t a serious plan to lower costs. It’s another Washington decision that leaves Alabama farmers holding the bag.”

For Sparks, the decision is the latest example of a much larger crisis facing Alabama agriculture.

“How much more can our farmers take?” Sparks said. “Fertilizer costs more. Diesel costs more. Equipment costs more. Farmers are getting squeezed from every direction, and now Washington wants them competing against hundreds of thousands of metric tons of tariff-free foreign beef. We are losing farmers in Alabama, and every time we lose one, we lose a piece of our economy, our communities and our way of life.”

Sparks said Alabama should stop standing on the sidelines and start using state policy to strengthen family farms, cattle producers and rural communities. His proposals include eliminating Alabama’s 1.5% sales tax on farm equipment and creating an agricultural enhancement program modeled on successful efforts in Tennessee and Kentucky to help producers invest in their operations and rebuild the state’s cattle herd.

“I’m running because complaining about the problem isn’t enough,” Sparks said. “We can put millions of dollars back into farmers’ pockets. We can help producers buy equipment, strengthen their operations and rebuild Alabama’s cattle herd. I don’t want to lose another Alabama farmer because the people in charge decided doing nothing was good enough.”

Jones said Alabama needs that same sense of urgency from its next Governor and Commissioner of Agriculture.

“Farm policy isn’t an abstraction when your livelihood depends on it,” Jones said. “Ron understands that. I understand that. Alabama farmers deserve leaders who will fight just as hard for them as they fight every day to keep their farms alive. When Ron and I are elected, Alabama agriculture will have two people in Montgomery who understand whose side they’re on — and we’re going to be on the side of Alabama farmers.”