Cactus Politics was able to sit down with Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) for an interview on American agriculture, where the popular Republican said that she wanted to "make sure that all of my votes when I am in the U.S. Senate are putting the people of this country first."
Lake, originally from Iowa, said that while the United States could help feed the world, "we also need to make sure we are protecting American farmers. We are watching so many countries come in and move into our food processing [and] farming. In Iowa, many of the family farms are being sold to massive corporations."
In June, Investigate Midwest detailed how much Iowan farmland is owned by large corporations and foreign entities, coming away with an estimate of just over half. Many owners of this land were not even farmers, including the Mormon Church, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and a single Tennessee family who bought 5000 acres under ten different names.
Does Texas have a constitutional right to defy Supreme Court on protecting its border?
Hence, Lake vowed, "I am America First, and I want to make sure that all of my votes when I am in the U.S. Senate are putting the people of this country first, are putting the companies that are American companies first."
The conversation shifted to agriculture in the West specifically and issues related to water supply.
Lake blasted current water planning and conservation as "archaic and outrageous," adding, "We are actually paying people not to farm to keep water in the [Colorado] River." Agriculture Drive detailed in October how part of the Inflation Reduction Act's objectives included plans to conserve 2.3 million acre-feet of water from the river over the next three years, offering farmers $400 per acre-foot of water saved.
"That is not a long-term strategy," Lake continued, "and this is why we need to look at other resources for water. The West is growing, we cannot count on just the Colorado River much longer."
Alternatives that the Arizona Senate candidate suggested included desalination, using seawater after removing the salt. After all, Lake reminded us that Arizona is "so close to water sources, whether it be from California or the Sea of Cortez."
Moreover, Lake pointed out that a desalination plant currently exists in Yuma County "that has not really been used," likely referring to the Yuma Desalting Plant, although other options existed.
Nevertheless, "We have to start looking long-term and stop kicking the can down the road and punishing [agriculture] so that we can keep water in the Colorado River. If we continue to operate with that mode, in that direction where we are punishing agriculture; keeping ag from expanding and growing, we are going to run out of food before we run out of water," Lake concluded.
