A survey conducted in July 2024 found that the most important issues for 25 percent of Americans in this election year were inflation and prices.

For the past three years, Americans have witnessed the highest grocery store food boosts since 1980, making the issue a key political talking point in the presidential matchup that will be decided in November.

Democratic nominee Kamala Harris catalyzed those concerns in a pitch she made to crackdown on “price gouging” in the days leading up to the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago in August.

Republican presidential Candidate Donald Trump immediately hammered the proposal and claimed that the high food prices were a result of the policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

Food industry leaders expressed outrage over the proposal and questioned whether “price gouging” is even happening. They say that the rise in prices has to do with supply chain impacts triggered by the pandemic, the extraordinary amount of government money dumped into the economy during the pandemic, and increased demand.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that surveys conducted by Harvard University economist Stefanie Stantcheva show that many people—Democrats in particular—believe that corporate greed is to blame for inflation.

Related:Trump and Harris vie for farm voters

Regardless of who’s right and who’s wrong on this issue, the current attention on grocery bills perhaps provides a teachable moment for the public and policymakers, who sometimes appear to think their food comes from Ralph’s or Albertsons.

There are important drivers behind the higher prices we are seeing. 

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 decreased and destabilized worldwide agricultural commodity production and availability.

Higher input costs for farmers are translating into higher prices on the grocery shelves. According to USDA, input costs, including fertilizer, fuel, land, machinery, and labor, have increased by 28% since 2020.

The rising cost of inputs puts smaller farmers at risk of not being able to afford critical supplies or make a profit for the year. Higher input costs also bring higher costs to consumers.

Readers of this publication know that food production starts with farmers and ranchers, and many of those products on the grocery store shelves would not be there but for the production capacity of the Western U.S.

Unfortunately, arguments in support of Western irrigated agriculture have in recent years been drowned in a flood of commentary from faraway critics who downplay and even criticize the importance of using water to produce affordable and safe food and fiber. 

Related:Is there new hope for a farm bill?

Meanwhile, the federal government’s policies were withholding water from food and fiber producers in places like California’s Central Valley, Central Oregon and the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California.

Western agriculture cannot simply be moved elsewhere. Vanishing farms harm families, habitat, local jobs, community security and the food production Americans depend on.

Less domestic food production means more global competition and higher prices for American consumers.  

This election year’s political debates over food prices will hopefully underscore that there has never been a more important time than now to have Western farms producing at capacity.