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Presidential candidates offer their stance on 10 agriculture issues, including food security, trade, renewable fuels, regulations and more.

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Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead/Courtesy of Biden campaign

The long, strange pandemic-ridden election season certainly looks different in 2020. But two things remain the same: Candidates are fielding questions from voters and media, and very few of those questions are about food and agriculture.

But Farm Progress editors want you to hear specifically from this year’s presidential candidates on the issues that are important to rural America. So, we posed the same 10 questions to the campaign teams for the Republican nominee, President Donald Trump, and the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The candidates’ exclusive responses are also available verbatim in the download at the end of the story.

The following questions were asked (click question to jump to answer):

Related:Backstory: Connecting with candidates on farm policy issues

1. How would you prioritize U.S. food production to improve national security?

Trump: A major focus of the Trump Administration has been to renegotiate trade deals that were weak and provided inadequate market access and import protection to US farmers and ranchers. Previous Administrations negotiated trade deals that put our farmers and ranchers in a negative position to those that we compete with in foreign markets. To address this, the Trump/Pence Administration negotiated the following significant multilateral trade agreements:

  • Korea

  • Japan

  • USMCA

  • China phase 1

    • No one knows better than our nation’s farmers and ranchers that for decades, China has stolen our technology, restricted US foreign investment, manipulated their currencies and kept US farm products out of their market.

    • China has begun making purchases under the phase 1 commitment, and in a second Trump Administration term China will have to come back to the table for more access to American farmers.

In each of these agreements the Trump/Pence Administration has negotiated better deals for farmers and ranchers than what was in place previously.

The strategy of negotiating key trade deals on a multilateral basis has been a primary focus of the Trump/Pence Administration. While the Obama/Biden Administration negotiated weak trade deals, focusing on multilateral negotiations, the Trump/Pence team negotiated successful trade agreements with the above.

Biden: This pandemic has laid bare how dependent we are on essential workers in this country - including the people who grow, process, and transport our food. We need to not only thank them, but make sure they receive the pay and benefits they deserve. And we need to make sure we are investing in our domestic food system, so we are not dependent on foreign countries for critical food supplies.

That’s why we have put forward a plan to strengthen our agricultural sector. Our family farmers and ranchers were already fighting an uphill battle because of President Trump’s irresponsible trade policies and consistent siding with oil lobbyists over American growers, but COVID-19 has placed new pressures on that sector and the rural economies it sustains. We will bring back America’s advantage in agriculture, create jobs, and build a bright future for rural communities by investing in the next generation of agriculture and conservation; providing opportunities to new farmers and ranchers, including returning veterans and minorities, to enter the economy; and making it easier to pass farms and ranches onto the next generation.

American agriculture is strong in part because of our incredible range of farm types and sizes — and we’ve got to make sure that anyone who wants to serve our country as a farmer can get assistance from USDA. The Biden-Harris Administration will expand the Obama-Biden Administration’s microloan program for new and beginning farmers, doubling the maximum loan amount to $100,000. And, we will increase funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm ownership and operating loans that typically serve beginning farmers who grew up on a family farm but need low-cost capital to add to their family’s operation to support another household. We also will ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture ends historical discrimination against Black farmers in federal farm programs and that all socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have access to programs that support their family farms.
We will reinvest in land grant universities’ agricultural research so the public, not private companies, owns patents to agricultural advances. We will do so by bolstering funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Our farmers need new technologies to compete in world markets while protecting our soil and water. These new technologies – and the next new seeds – should be developed and owned by the American people, not private companies who can use patents to expand profits.

We will help farmers leverage new technologies, techniques, and equipment to increase productivity and profit – including by providing low-cost finance for the transition to new equipment and methods, funding research and development in precision agriculture and new crops, and a establishing a new voluntary carbon farming market that rewards farmers for the carbon they sequester on their land and the greenhouse gas emission reductions, including from methane, that they secure. These efforts to partner with farmers will help them tap into new income streams as they tackle the challenge of sequestering carbon, reducing emissions, and continue their track record as global leaders in agricultural innovation.

We also will expand bio-based manufacturing using agricultural waste to provide new income opportunities for farmers and better paying manufacturing jobs in rural communities. And, we will strengthen antitrust enforcement. From the inputs they depend on – such as seeds – to the markets where they sell their products, American farmers and ranchers are being hurt by increasing market concentration. We will protect small and medium-sized farmers and producers by strengthening enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Packers and Stockyards Act.

2. What is the greatest threat to American agriculture today?

Biden: One of the greatest risks for American agriculture is the impact of extreme weather.  Crop insurance and risk management tools are incredibly important to farmers, especially in light of the most recent windstorm in Iowa, the fires out west, the drought in the Midwest, and Hurricane Laura in Texas and Louisiana. We understand the important role crop insurance plays and will make sure the safety net is there for those who need it.

Trump: Our ag and food value chain is the envy of the world but faced significant challenges during the COVID outbreak as retail and food service delivery mechanisms were upended almost overnight through the rapid closures our country faced in March.

On March 19, 2020, the Trump/Pence Administration released its list of designated critical infrastructure that exempted the entire food and agriculture production system from any quarantine or stay at home requirements.  This exemption list became the guide that was used by every Governor in every state to determine closures.  Without this guidance, farmers most likely would not have gotten the products they needed for spring planting and each state’s mandatory closure requirement would have been different for the farmer and all of their suppliers.

On April 17th, the Trump/Pence Administration announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program which committed up to $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers impacted by market disruptions and committed an additional $3 billion for the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. The Farmers to Family Food Box Program has been an innovative program that acquired perishable fruits and vegetables, dairy, and meat products that had been impacted by school, restaurant and other food service customers, and distributed those nutritious products to Americans most in need. The Administration has distributed over 75 million of these boxes. The program has accomplished the goals of moving excess product, stabilizing the market, and getting food to those most in need.

On April 28th, the Trump/Pence administration issued an executive order that deployed the Defense Production Act for our meat packing industry. This act made it clear meatpacking plants that met OSHA and CDC guidelines should remain open. It was critical that we kept meat in our grocery stores during this national crisis, and it was critical for our farmers and ranchers that these facilities remained opened to process animals that were ready for market. There were many stories in the spring about worst case scenarios in the meat and poultry sectors, and while these were trying times, through strong and clear actions we were able to quickly work to stabilize the meat production sector.

Throughout this crisis, the Trump/Pence Administration has engaged heavily with leaders in the industry at every point in the supply chain. The Vice President’s task force has in addition to health experts, also included the Secretary of Agriculture, as food/agriculture issues remain one of the critical aspects of any national crisis response.

Another critical aspect of our food supply system is our nation’s public feeding programs. Throughout the pandemic the Trump/Pence Administration has worked to ensure maximum flexibility to states as they administer these programs, from the School Meal program, to SNAP benefits, we have ensured that the men, women, and children most vulnerable to the impacts of this pandemic both from health and economic impact continue to have access to the food they need.

Thankfully, throughout this crisis, we never had a “food supply” problem, we had a highly efficient, safe, and affordable ag and food value chain that was and remains the envy of the world. The strength of that value chain was bent in ways it never had before, but it never broke, and it has been the privilege of the Trump/Pence Administration to leverage government resources and coordination capabilities to ensure our private sector was able to continue meeting the food needs of all Americans.

3. What actions will you take to secure trade opportunities for U.S. farmers?

Trump: In addition to the new agreements President Trump has negotiated, we have also stood by are farmers when they were targeted by unjust trade retaliation. Other countries, China in particular, thought they could force us to accept more bad trade deals by targeting our farmers. We have taken some of the revenue we received in tariffs and we have provided $28 billion in direct support to those farms and commodities that have been unjustly targeted.

For too many years, American trade policy has allowed other countries to take advantage of us. Joe Biden doesn’t have a plan on trade, he will revert to the Obama-Biden years of letting China take advantage of us.

President Trump is very grateful to the American farmer for their patriotism that enabled him to stand up to the Chinese and be the first president to force them to change their practices that have resulted in the loss of millions of jobs in the U.S.   President Trump will never ask the American farmer to bear the cost of our important work to make China play by the same rules as the rest of the world.

We know our farmers want markets, they want to grow and produce things to sell here in America and to the world, we also know that they want fair and reciprocal trade deals. The farmers have stood with us as we have taken on these unfair trade practices, and we have stood with them. When President Trump wins a second term, other countries already know he means what he says on trade, and we will continue to see more favorable agreements reached in a second term. There will be more opportunities with China if they decide to take more steps to play by the rules, we will get a bigger deal done with Japan, we are in talks with other major Asian countries. President Trump is also eager to finalize a new U.S.-U.K. Trade agreement that includes significant agriculture access and hopes that can pave the way for progress with the EU as well, one of the most unfair markets to many of our America farmers.

Biden: We strengthen our agricultural sector by pursuing a trade policy that works for American farmers. More than 20% of all crops grown and products raised in the United States are exported, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and helping to stabilize farm income. But America’s farmers and rural communities have paid a heavy price for President Trump’s tariffs. While President Trump is pursuing a damaging and erratic trade war without any real strategy, We will stand up to China by working with our allies to negotiate from the strongest possible position.

4. What are your goals for the Renewable Fuel Standard?

Biden: A Biden-Harris Administration will promote ethanol and the next generation of biofuels. We believe renewable fuels are vital to the future of rural America – and the climate. Our plan will invest $400 billion in clean energy research, innovation, and deployment – more than twice what America spent to put a man on the moon. And, as part of this effort, developing the next generation of biofuels will be a top priority. Our plan will invest in research to develop cellulosic biofuels in a manner that protects our soil and water and addresses the challenge of climate change, while turning grass, crop residues, and other biomass into fuel. Doubling down on these liquid fuels of the future will not only make value-added agriculture a key part of the solution to climate change – reducing emissions in planes, ships, and other forms of transportation – but will also create quality jobs across rural America. From day one, we will use every tool at our disposal, including the federal fleet and the federal government’s purchasing power, to promote and advance renewable energy, ethanol, and other biofuels.

President Trump has sold out our farmers by undercutting the Renewable Fuel Standard and granting waivers to Big Oil. Those waivers severely cut ethanol production, costing farmers income and ethanol plant workers their jobs. Now, President Trump refuses to announce the 2021 renewable fuel production levels until after the election, leaving farmers concerned of further cuts to production. The Renewable Fuel Standard marks our bond with our farmers and our commitment to a thriving rural economy. President Trump doesn't respect that connection, and he's thrown it away to the detriment of generations of producers across the Midwest and around the country — many of whom put their trust in him four years ago.

Trump: One of the proudest achievements of the first term is that we have gained energy self-sufficiency as a Nation. President Trump and Vice President Pence have been strong supporters of the “all of the above” energy approach. This includes greater oil, natural gas, and renewable fuel production. For agriculture, after decades of inaction by previous Administrations, the Trump Administration allowed year-round sales of E-15.  When implementing the Renewable Fuel Standard, the President decided in favor of farmers and said from now on 15 billion gallons of ethanol must mean 15 billion gallons and shouldn't be undermined by small refinery waivers.  Further, to permanently boost market demand for ethanol and biodiesel, the Trump Administration is implementing a Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program to expand the infrastructure and increase the nation-wide distribution of biofuels.  The Trump Administration also is working hard to expand export sales of ethanol around the world including to China, Brazil, Mexico and other markets.  Finally, given the vast potential of the bioeconomy to our Nation, foresters, and farmers, the Trump Administration is taking action to recognize that renewable energy produced from forests and agricultural crops should be exempted from regulation and is good for the environment, foresters, farmers, and the U.S. economy.

A strong underlying economy and broader job creation across the country that my Administration has achieved and will achieve again as we overcome this national pandemic will be the greatest driver of renewable energy demand.

Investment in our nation’s critical infrastructure will also drive demand for these incredible products in my second term.

5. What food chain vulnerabilities were exposed during the pandemic, and how would you address them?

Trump: President Trump supported and signed the 2018 Farm Bill, and the Trump/Pence Administration worked expeditiously to implement the critical legislation. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for Farm Bill programs that will help farmers prepare for the threats of tomorrow while maximizing productivity today. 

The Trump Administration has implemented several new programs in the 2018 Farm Bill which have helped support our farmers during these uncertain times. This includes the dairy margin coverage program which has helped dairies across our country, especially in leading dairy states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, California, New York, and Pennsylvania withstand difficult market conditions. The Administration has worked on regulations that will support the burgeoning hemp industry, establishing rules that will lay the foundation for this to become another crop rotation option for farmers across the country. The Administration has also implemented provisions that will ensure the health of our nation’s livestock sector, even as we have seen disease threats like the African Swine Fever decimate China’s pork industry. Through new Farm Bill tools, we are working to ensure we keep these diseases out of the United States and developing vaccines and tools that can protect our domestic industry should we ever encounter such threats.

President Trump believes that a new farm bill must be generous to our farmers and must do a better job of sustaining them through these tough times.  The new farm bill cannot impose new regulatory or climate requirements on already struggling farmers.  The smallest farmers will be the hardest hurt by new and unfunded mandates in the new farm bill.

Future Farm Bills must focus on building on the key pillars of our domestic farm policy including a strong crop insurance system, voluntary conservation programs, and increased agricultural research. Our farmers are the most innovative and productive in the world, and our farm policy must continue to unleash this great potential.

In addition to the Farm safety net, the Trump Administration has worked to ensure our farmers have had adequate protection from the Market Facilitation Program responding to unjustified trade retaliation; to Disaster programs that have come to aid our farmers that faced drought, fire, flood and snow across the Southeast, the Midwest, and the West; to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Our farmers have faced much adversity, but as the heroic patriots they are, they have continued to get the job done, and the Trump/Pence Administration has boldly stood with them in that work.

Biden: When a pandemic disrupts food service it disrupts nearly half of the domestic supply line for food and leaves millions suddenly unemployed. The Trump Administration was slow to help pivot food supplies from food service to food banks and was ignoring a growing crisis in the meatpacking industry. The Biden-Harris Administration will not make those mistakes. We will direct immediate assistance to farmers and processors to remove the barrier to donations of food to food banks. The system today encourages dumping and destroying food because it costs something to harvest the crops, slaughter the livestock and process all of it into food to consume. The federal government needs a plan to cover those costs so farmers and processors could avoid losing even more by donating. The Biden-Harris Administration will also work immediately with processors to protect workers and help to build more resiliency and capacity in processing facilities, so the shutdown of one or two facilities does not cause a major disruption in supply, as we saw this  year.

6. What changes could improve federal health care policy for rural Americans?

Biden: Rural America faces unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to access to quality health care. In many rural communities, the local hospital is one of the largest – if not the largest  – employers. Keeping our rural hospitals open is critical not only for saving lives, but also for supporting local economies in rural America. Yet, since 2010, more than 100 rural hospitals across the United States have closed. Combined, these closures represent the loss of over 10,000 jobs. And, they could mean life or death for patients in rural communities. Already, someone injured in a rural area has to travel, on average, nearly twice as far to get to the closest hospital as someone injured in an urban area. These critical moments lost in travel time are one reason an estimated 60% of all trauma fatalities occur in rural communities.

You can read our full health care plan here. The first step to save our rural hospitals is to defend the Affordable Care Act. In fact, one proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act would have caused $1.7 billion in cuts to rural hospitals, 181 additional rural hospitals “forced into the red,” and nearly 38,000 lost jobs. Our Administration is not going to eliminate the Affordable Care Act, we’re going to build on it. Research found that, in states that took up the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, the expansion was a critical tool in keeping rural hospitals open. Yet, some states have still not expanded Medicaid eligibility. Our plan will enroll all of these individuals in a new public option, without a premium and with benefits like those offered in Medicaid.

The Biden-Harris Administration will also provide rural health care providers with funding and flexibility necessary to identify, test, and deploy innovative approaches to keeping their doors open and providing care for the unique needs of rural communities. And, we will identify and eliminate federal rules making it harder for rural hospitals to serve their communities. For example, many rural hospitals serving small populations do not have enough patients to maintain inpatient care, but those communities still need a 24/7 emergency department.

To help hospitals keep their doors open, we support the elimination of payment cuts and additional payments for rural hospitals as detailed in the bipartisan Save Rural Hospitals Act. We will also double funding for community health centers. More than half of community health centers are in rural areas. Finally, the Biden-Harris Administration will use a comprehensive approach to increase the number of rural individuals going to medical school or other training programs and returning or staying in rural communities to provide care, with a focus on primary care physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and other in-demand providers.

Trump: A major focus of the Trump Presidency has been to help address the rural/urban divide. Rural America is home to over 60 million Americans who represent the best of our Nation’s values--hard work, love of country, and embracing freedom--yet oftentimes do not have access to the tools to meet the demands of a growing global economy. It is for this reason that the Trump/Pence Administration has made it a goal to gain access for the 18 million Americans that do not have access to high speed internet. The Trump/Pence Administration has worked to provide more funding through the FCC and USDA’s ReConnect Program to address this key issue. Bridging the internet divide in rural America will help to provide better education, improved telemedicine, as well as give farmers and ranchers more tools to produce our Nation’s food and fiber more profitably. High speed internet access is the lynchpin for the data and technology revolution occurring in agriculture that will benefit farmers and ranchers, the environment and consumers.

Farmers face significant challenges due to the vagaries of weather and other factors that are beyond their control. This can provide enormous stress on farmers and ranchers. For this reason, the Administration has supported increased funding for mental health needs for rural Americans. In addition, the White House has led efforts to address the epidemic of opioid use in rural America.

7. Do you anticipate continuing recent ad hoc assistance, including trade payments (Market Facilitation Program) and coronavirus payments (Coronavirus Food Assistance Program) into 2021?

Trump: The President is committed to taking care of Farmers and has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.  President Trump’s focus is on fixing broken trade deals and ensure all Americans enjoy free and fair trade with countries around the world.  President Trump is standing up for America’s farmers by negotiating fairer, freer, and more reciprocal trade deals that remove barriers and open markets for American farmers.  For example, President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) into law, cut a Deal with the European Union and Japan.  These trade deals will vastly help support and expand markets for America’s farmers.

Biden: A Biden-Harris Administration will support America’s farmers and ranchers by ending the current Administration’s chaotic trade agenda and repairing the damage to the Renewable Fuels Standard. A Biden-Harris Administration will also invest in America’s farmers, our shared natural resources, and our struggling rural communities. Our Administration will use every Farm Bill program and authority available to the Secretary of Agriculture -- including resources of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) -- to invest in farm resiliency; complementing Farm Bill programs and crop insurance to provide fair, equitable, and responsible assistance to farmers facing low prices, devastating weather events, or supply chain disruptions due to the global pandemic.  We will work with farmers and ranchers to build a more financially secure agricultural economy that is better able to weather current and future disruptions, achieve net zero emissions, and ensure healthy, vibrant rural communities across America.

8. How do you plan to partner with farmers in addressing the changing climate?

Biden: A key pillar of my plan for rural America is partnering with farmers and ranchers so that better agriculture practices and deployment of digesters generate new sources of revenues. For our family farmers, ranchers, and landowners the climate agenda is not just about growing nutritious food and making it accessible to all families, it’s also about having water they can rely on for growing that food. It’s about local farms and fresh food for every community. And it’s about making sure that floodwaters in the Midwest are not taking away family farms that have fed our people for decades. We will review regulatory roadblocks to new innovations and invest in climate-friendly farming such as conservation programs for cover crops and other practices aimed at restoring the soil and building soil carbon, and in the process, preventing run-off and helping family farmers deploy the latest technologies to maximize productivity. We will create new opportunities to support deployment of methane digesters to capture potent climate emissions and generate electricity. With these efforts, family farmers can benefit and help lead the Clean Energy Revolution.

Trump: President Trump believes that American farmers are the most sustainable in the world and we should be thanking them rather than thinking of new ways to regulate them.  Any new sustainability or climate requirements must be science based and not result in tighter profit margins for farmers.  This would hurt beginning and smaller farmers the most.

The number one stewards protecting natural resources are our nation’s farmers and ranchers. The Trump/Pence Administration has been strong supporters of increased funding of voluntary conservation programs included in the 2018 Farm Bill that helped farmers protect our precious natural resources, including water quality, while also enhancing soil health.

A Biden Administration will be controlled by environmental activists that would be working from day 1 to implement the Green New Deal which would have devastating impacts on farmers and ranchers.

The Trump/Pence Administration launched the Ag Innovation Agenda earlier this year with the goal of telling the story of agriculture’s contribution to the economy and the environment, starting to set the benchmarks for how the sector can be a part of solutions, not demonized as the problem.

9. Farmers are concerned about balancing regulations. What regulations do you anticipate expanding or rolling back?

Trump: From day 1, the Trump/Pence Administration has sought to lift the undue regulatory burdens that had been placed on farmers and ranchers during the Obama/Biden Administration. With the 2 for 1 directive, any new regulation had to also be accompanied by a removal of two existing regulations. The Trump/Pence Administration has exceeded even that expectation since taking office.

The Obama/Biden Administration unleashed hundreds of rules that saddled the US economy with hundreds of billions of dollars of increased costs. No better example of the regulatory burden of the Obama/Biden Administration is in the agriculture and food arena. The Trump/Pence Administration made deregulation a cornerstone of its economic plan. This led to greater economic growth, higher employment, and increased profitability for small business, including farmers and ranchers.

The Obama-Biden Administration pursued a more burdensome regulatory agenda for farmers than any previous administration. From using the endangered species act to cut off water and operational flexibility, to creating OSHA standards that didn’t recognize the unique aspects of farming, to making the H-2A program unworkable and moving slowly to address delays when they occurred, to climate policy that would penalize farmers for their productivity. At almost every turn, the Obama-Biden administration sought to impose greater labor, tax, and environmental regulations on our hard-working farmers.

In the agriculture sector the Trump Administration has advanced rules related to organic agriculture, biotech, livestock marketing, nutrition programs, school meals standards, and numerous Farm Bill programs that have eased burdens on farmers and ranchers and eliminated disincentives to productivity.

Additionally, the Trump/Pence Administration has pursued significant reform of NEPA—recently rolling out the first overhaul of the National Environmental Policy Act in over 30 years. This will greatly reduce the timeline for any environmental review proposed regulations and will help to avoid frivolous lawsuits that the environmental community has saddled business with. You can be assured that a Biden Administration will reverse these decisions and go in an even more radical environmental direction.

The Trump/Pence Administration will only support common sense regulations where any cost is far outweighed by the benefits, and where that cost benefit analysis considers all factors including economic and impact on rural communities. This Administration fully supports protecting our environment but believes that human flourishing and economic growth is integral to any effective regulatory agenda.

Biden: Far too often, regulatory policy has been a partisan political tool rather than a process to improve the livelihood of American families and businesses. Under our Administration, regulatory policy will again embrace the lessons and experience of experts and scientists, employing cutting-edge analysis and knowledge to guide decisions. We will listen to those that might be impacted by a regulation before it is crafted. We will ensure an open, transparent deliberation on the costs and benefits of various regulations leads to better, more inclusive policy outcomes, and our administration will strictly adhere to these values at every stage of the regulatory process.

10. In our surveys, farmers say the top priority for the election is “the way Washington operates.” If elected, how do you anticipate changing the way Washington operates?

Biden: The charge facing the president who follows President Trump is as big as it is essential: restoring faith in American government. The next president must demonstrate with their actions – not empty words – that public servants serve all Americans, not themselves or narrow special interests. Public office is not the prize for winning an election, but an imperative to improve the lives of people across the country – no matter their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, zip code, income, or political party. The President of the United States has a core responsibility to earn and keep the trust of the American people, and to work with their elected representatives regardless of their political party. 

We must elect leaders with integrity, for whom the public interest is paramount. But that’s not enough. We also must strengthen our laws to ensure that no future president can ever again use the office for personal gain. The federal government’s power must be used to better the country, and not in service of narrow, private interests. We have put forth ambitious proposals to ensure that our government works for the people. Specifically, we will:

  • Reduce the corrupting influence of money in politics and make it easier for candidates of all backgrounds to run for office;

  • Return integrity to the U.S. Department of Justice and other Executive Branch decision-making;

  • Restore ethics in government;

  • Rein in Executive Branch financial conflicts of interest; and

  • Hold the lobbied and lobbyists to a higher standard of accountability.

You can read more about my plan to guarantee a government that works for the people at joebiden.com/governmentreform

Trump: The Trump Administration believes farmers and ranchers have a much better ability to manage and care for their land than a bureaucrat in Washington. President Trump has spent his career building things, and has deep affection for our patriotic farmers because they don’t make excuses, they don’t complain, they just get up every morning with the goal of making this country great and sharing the bounty of their hard work with their fellow citizens.

The entire Democrat party is more controlled by coastal elites and only pays attention to rural America and farmers for a short time every 4 years when they want that support in states that depend on a strong farm economy. While the Obama-Biden Administration saddled farmers with countless regulations and burdens, a Biden Administration, controlled by AOC environmental activists, would make farmers long for earlier days.

Download full, verbatim answers by clicking the DOWNLOAD button below:

About the Author(s)

Jacqui Fatka

Policy editor, Farm Futures

Jacqui Fatka grew up on a diversified livestock and grain farm in southwest Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications, with a minor in agriculture education, in 2003. She’s been writing for agricultural audiences ever since. In college, she interned with Wallaces Farmer and cultivated her love of ag policy during an internship with the Iowa Pork Producers Association, working in Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Capitol Hill press office. In 2003, she started full time for Farm Progress companies’ state and regional publications as the e-content editor, and became Farm Futures’ policy editor in 2004. A few years later, she began covering grain and biofuels markets for the weekly newspaper Feedstuffs. As the current policy editor for Farm Progress, she covers the ongoing developments in ag policy, trade, regulations and court rulings. Fatka also serves as the interim executive secretary-treasurer for the North American Agricultural Journalists. She lives on a small acreage in central Ohio with her husband and three children.

Holly Spangler

Senior Editor, Prairie Farmer, Farm Progress

Holly Spangler has covered Illinois agriculture for more than two decades, bringing meaningful production agriculture experience to the magazine’s coverage. She currently serves as editor of Prairie Farmer magazine and Executive Editor for Farm Progress, managing editorial staff at six magazines throughout the eastern Corn Belt. She began her career with Prairie Farmer just before graduating from the University of Illinois in agricultural communications.

An award-winning writer and photographer, Holly is past president of the American Agricultural Editors Association. In 2015, she became only the 10th U.S. agricultural journalist to earn the Writer of Merit designation and is a five-time winner of the top writing award for editorial opinion in U.S. agriculture. She was named an AAEA Master Writer in 2005. In 2011, Holly was one of 10 recipients worldwide to receive the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Ag Journalism award. She currently serves on the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, the U of I Agricultural Communications Advisory committee, and is an advisory board member for the U of I College of ACES Research Station at Monmouth. Her work in agricultural media has been recognized by the Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Corn, Illinois Council on Agricultural Education and MidAmerica Croplife Association.

Holly and her husband, John, farm in western Illinois where they raise corn, soybeans and beef cattle on 2,500 acres. Their operation includes 125 head of commercial cows in a cow/calf operation. The family farm includes John’s parents and their three children.

Holly frequently speaks to a variety of groups and organizations, sharing the heart, soul and science of agriculture. She and her husband are active in state and local farm organizations. They serve with their local 4-H and FFA programs, their school district, and are active in their church's youth and music ministries.

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