There are winners and losers in the most recent Farm Bill, and Congressman Lincoln Davis says Tennessee cattlemen are on the losing end right now. Subsidies for corn ethanol production continue to play a part in the elevated cost of grain. Davis met with farmers recently in Columbia in Crossville who said they are struggling to buy feed.

“With the prices of commodities – I’m talking about corn above $4 a bushel – it’s getting tougher and tougher for beef cattle operators to continue to actually feed grain to cattle to fatten those out.”

Davis says beef cattle farmers are getting lower prices for their feeder calves, which are sent west to eventually be slaughtered. He says the cost of grain – again due to the high commodities prices – is also keeping dairy farmers down. Without feeding dairy cows grain, Davis says farmers can’t get enough milk production to make a profit. To read the entire article, link here.

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