Protecting America's Food Supply
As a real Alabama cattle farmer, I have lived my entire life working to feed America. We currently have 750 momma cows, 700 feeder calves, and we raise 3000 to 4000 rolls of hay per year. A smart man once said that a cattle farmer is a grass farmer. We raise grass that makes beef in which makes hamburger and steak which everyone buys at the grocery store. Our young people are being raised to believe sometimes that our food comes from the grocery store rather than from the farm. More and more people in this generation are beginning to buy beef, pork and chicken direct from the farm.
It is imperative that we educate everyone on where food comes from. Our great State raises a large amount of food that feeds America. On Sand Mountain they raise tomatoes and sweet potatoes that are shipped all over the United States. We raise chickens for both meat and eggs. In South Alabama, there are all types of vegetables grown. All across this great State there is beef cattle raised and at this time there is a new processing plant being built in South Alabama. We have farmers raising pork all across the State. We still have a few diaries that produce white milk and chocolate milk. From the tip of North Alabama to the Southern most tip of South Alabama there is agricultural crops being raised including corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, oats, and we are still a huge producer of cotton. We have all ate food today and we are wearing clothes from products produced in Alabama. I don’t want to leave out all of the wine producers growing grapes or muscadines or the bee handlers who are raising good Alabama honey.
We can not let these men and women fail. We must make sure that we don’t import our food from other countries full of preservatives (so it can be shipped) when we can and do raise our food here. We must protect the integrity of our food supply and we must keep it safe.
One major obstacle in agriculture that should be corrected in America as soon as possible is to repeal the Death Tax, also known as Estate Taxes. The past administrations have continued to increase the death tax to what it is now a 40% of all of the estates assets after a $13.61 million exemption per individual. We must work hard to get this down to zero. A farm pays sales tax and income tax every year that it is operating. When the patriarch passes away and for each generation that passes away after that the American government collects a death tax on all farms and estates. As your senator I will work very hard to repeal all death taxes.
