I was very fortunate to speak with Dr. Mike Strain, Commissioner of Louisiana's Department of Agriculture and Forestry on my show on Friday. We spoke at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Centennial Celebration where thousands of farmers and those involved in the agricultural industry around the state and country come together. In our conversation, we discussed a myriad of topics and issues that face Louisiana farmers. Some of those are the same struggle much of the country is dealing with in high inflation and high gas prices.
Explain to me what goes on at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Celebration.
This is where the policies are made, and they will be taken up on Sunday. Those policies become the platform of work for the Louisiana Farm Bureau, which represents 125,000 to 135,000 families. The 2023 Farm Bill is critical because it sets the tone for the next 5 to 10 years. The country is moving toward a call for a greener environment, with farmers growing multiple crops at the same time, and there’s concerns over crop insurance and prices as well as more international trade. The farm bill's a big deal. Agriculture is the largest industry in America. One of the things that makes this country great is that the U.S. is an agricultural powerhouse.
I quote you all the time, when I say that the U.S. can't just be energy self-sufficient, we need to be energy dominant.
You can’t just turn on our nation's oil production like a lightswitch. From the time the oil lease is signed to when the fuel is in the pumps is a five to eight year cycle. That is no different than the price of beef. From the time the calf is born to when it's matured to raise the number of cattle is a five year cycle. The United States government has to turn on the energy spigot. This nation and its agriculture runs on diesel and gas. We've got to have some worldwide stability on energy to start bringing inflation down. Plus, we have to get people back to work so we can deal with those supply chain issues. Do I think prices will come down? Probably not, but we've got to stop inflation so wages can catch up and everything can come to that new normal.
Could the country experience beef shortages by the end of the year?
Right now, we're seeing a 3% or more net loss in the amount of cattle that we have because beef prices have not gone up at the farm level compared to the other commodity prices. There may be a lot less beef on the market because of what's happening with the price of beef… people are cutting back on buying beef and that upsets the whole system when you look at the retail prices of beef or ground meat. Consumers are buy less food simply because they can not afford it.
