Montana Ranches Are Struggling With Democrat Policies
There was an opinion piece today in the Billings Gazette that's blaming the monopoly that the major meatpackers have on the tough times that ranchers face. As a rancher, more problems and financial burdens are put on us by Democrats than meatpackers.
Calf prices are pretty good right now on average and the same with grain prices, but Democrat policies are killing us. The war on fossil fuels is just the start of our costs to produce and the cost of shipping is up substantially since the election. Property taxes up.
All the new environmental regulations for plants and producers alike. Grazing fees and allotments are strangling ranchers across the country. How about the availability of water now? Wildlife over livestock. We can't get things shipped overseas because of ports being closed, union labor disputes keeping our beef and grains from being exported.
Mandatory wages at the businesses that we need to operate, those costs have been passed on to the rancher. How about the covid rules passed by rogue governors and health directors that closed packing plants, restaurants, and schools.
Now the push for plant-based meat to cut methane gasses. The list goes on and on from how difficult democrats have made it for agriculture. Many businesses, in fact, are hurt by their policies. That's why they want to control all revenue and wages for Americans no matter what they do.
Another big factor is with less than a million farmers and ranchers left we are not a big enough voting block anymore to worry about. You have to be vaccinated to eat a steak in New York City, but not to sneak into the country and live there. Go figure.