By Zippy Duvall
On my family farm in Georgia, every season begins with the same basic question: will the numbers work? Like farmers across the country, my family looks at the cost of seed, fertilizer, feed, fuel, and labor before we plant a crop or expand the herd. Farming has never been easy, but lately, it’s been harder to make those numbers work.
This week, I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Agriculture Committee about the challenges farmers and ranchers are facing and what it will take to keep American agriculture strong in the years ahead.
As I shared with lawmakers, the story of today’s farm economy is one of incredible productivity paired with increasingly tight margins. Farmers today are producing more than ever. Innovation and technology have helped us grow more food, fiber, and fuel using fewer resources than ever before. But productivity alone does not pay the bills.
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