Farmer predicts more food shortages, higher prices in 2023: 'Wake up and support local'
Fourth-generation Tennessee dairy farmer sounds alarm on hurdles facing agriculture industry
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A fourth-generation dairy farmer is warning food shortages in 2023 will be more severe than previous years as the American agriculture industry faces growing production hurdles.
Stephanie Nash, a Turning Point USA ambassador, spoke out about the issue on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday, saying the threat of drought, price hikes due to inflation and an increasing number of regulations are creating serious problems for farmers.
"That's a big food security threat to our future here in America," Nash told guest host Katie Pavlich.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CALIFORNIA'S DROUGHT DISASTER IS TURNING INTO AN ECONOMIC DISASTER: ‘IT’S UNPRECEDENTED'
Nash began her farming career in California, but moved her business to Tennessee because the state has fewer farming regulations.
"California, they have tons of regulations with air quality, with water coalitions, just being able to get resources they need. It's like they're pushing us into a corner to go out of business," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The biggest problem remains, however, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has not kept up with a changing world, Nash asserted.
Nash Farms is a fourth-generation dairy farm located in Tennessee. (Fox News Digital)
She said the USDA needs to consider the threats from severe weather and how family farmers are being impacted. Nash explained that some farmers have resorted to burning hay in order to keep crops warm.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Where's politicians and where's the USDA when we are trying to save our crops and our animals from weather devastation?" she asked.
"And they want to tell us how to do our job on the side with regulations."
Nash stressed the need for the government and the public to support local agriculture as foreign countries purchase U.S. farmland and inflation continues to ravage the economy. She predicted America will see many family farmers and ranchers go out of business in 2023 as a result.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Nash noted that even the four main packers in the beef industry are selling off their cattle because of minimal profits and the inability to get feed in some parts of the country.
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"If you look at Big Corp, Big Government, they are the ones killing off family farmers and ranchers and reaping the benefit of Americans at the grocery store," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That's the truth of what is happening in America, and that's the truth of what will happen if we don't start to wake up and support local."