The farms and forests of Northern Wisconsin are the backbone for our economy and our way of life. But Congress has allowed too much influence for special interests to siphon off the resources that could be going to support small and medium sized-farms and family forest owners.  And they stood by while Elon Musk took a chainsaw to the agencies who care for our public lands and who help our farmers and forest owners - firing the very people who support Northern Wisconsin.  And now the Trump tariff war is destroying markets for farm products that have taken farmers decades to build.  

The number of family farms and dairy farms in Wisconsin continues to shrink as smaller farms are no longer able to survive prices consistently below their costs.

Whether it's dairy, beef, corn, or soybeans, far too many farm producers are losing money year after year because prices paid by milk processors, meat packers, or at grain elevators are simply too low to cover the cost of production. Farmers are being exploited by a corporate agribusiness sector that continues to consolidate and monopolize, controlling prices and squeezing more and more producers out of business.

Piling on to an already tough environment, the Trump administration’s tariff war has caused trading partners around the world to look elsewhere to purchase American goods and products. China, which prior to last year normally purchased half of America's soybeans, dramatically cut back it's soybean purchases, creating a crisis for farmers and the entire agricultural supply chain at harvest time. Wisconsin farmers have paid millions of dollars over decades into checkoff programs to build international markets for farm crops, only to have those investments wiped out by tariffs applied with no logic or foresight. 

Meanwhile, our forest products sector in Wisconsin continues to struggle, which affects jobs and our forests and their owners. Wisconsin badly needs new investments in research and development to find new uses for our wood products and help attract new forest product manufacturers. 

Today more than ever, our farmers and forest owners need opportunities to adapt to changing times and develop new sources of revenue. 

In Congress I Will Support 

• Strengthening anti-monopoly protections in federal law and increasing enforcement of existing anti-monopoly rules to prevent the monopoly pricing power that squeezes farmers at harvest time.

• Restoring Congressional control over tariff policy and undoing the damage done to farm product markets with our best farm trading partners.

• Requiring Country of Origin labeling for meat and meat products sold in the U.S.

• Passing a Farm Bill that balances farm and forest productivity with conservation and restores and strengthens our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

• Providing meaningful incentives for farmers who chose to develop renewable energy projects on their land to supplement farm income.  

• Rebuild and re-invest in the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and other public lands that provide multiple benefits to Wisconsin residents. 

• Continuing our investments in farm product and forest product research and development.