GiaQuinta: Diesel relief helps, but won’t undo damage done to Hoosier farmers

House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) released the following statement after Gov. Mike Braun announced Hoosier farmers can use tax-free off-road diesel in their on-road equipment:

"Our farmers need help right now, and we support the governor's decision. But let's be clear about what this is: small, temporary relief. It'll help with the harvest this fall, but it barely touches the rising costs farmers face. 

"Hoosier farmers have been crushed by two years of bad federal agricultural policy. Indiana farmers lost $607 million in exports from tariffs, when soybean exports to China dropped by 76%. Fertilizer prices spiked 30 to 40% during planting season and are climbing again ahead of fall application. Farm debt is growing as interest rates for operating loans stay above 7%, increasing farm bankruptcies by 46% last year. 

"A few months of relief won't make up for a trade war that sent Indiana's biggest soybean buyer to South America and a foreign war that hiked fertilizer prices. Hoosier farmers deserve real, lasting solutions, and Indiana Republicans should be demanding them from Washington."