The U.S. had about 6.5 million farms in 1920, the highest number in its history. But, over the years, a lot of farms have closed as industry took the lead in the US, to the point where there are less than 2 million family farms today.
Christina McInnis, a Republican candidate for Alabama AG commissioner, is a fifth-generation farmer from Baldwin County, and her family built one of the largest sod farms in the nation. Gowing up working in her family’s machine, fixing tractors, she founded and now serves as CEO of AgriTech Corp, an agricultural software company.
McInnis says farming is a hard life, but also vitally important.
“You're watching so many people leave farming. It's really hard, and that's a national security issue for us,” McInnis comments.
The reason, she says, is that foreign adversaries are buying up American farmland, specifically China.
“Now, as important as it is, we're watching China come in, own one out of four hogs, purchase 400,000 of our acres,” McInnis states.
McInnis says a lot of families are getting out of farming.
“As we're watching the global struggles that are occurring that affect farmers, you're not having this next generation going into it. They can't see the path to success. They can't see the profitability,” McInnis notes.
She says it's still important in Alabama. It's the state's number one industry at more than $77 billion a year. It accounts for one out of 10 jobs. It's also a point of vulnerability for the U.S.
“Agriculture is our golden goose. We need to sit at the table, and we need to eat. We need to feed our country. But in doing so, if we eat from a foreign hand, they're going to control us without ever lifting a bullet,” McInnis states.
McInnis says that she has a 5-Point Action Plan to help provide Alabama with home-grown food: strengthening the farm bill and nutrition programs, protecting Alabama farmland, securing the next generation of farmers, growing Sweet Grown Alabama and streamlining grants for farmers.
