President Joe Biden visits Illinois under a cloud of inflationary worries
CHICAGO (CBS) -- President Joe Biden is talking inflation in Illinois.
CBS 2's Tim McNicholas reports from the Kankakee Fairgrounds with a recap of his visit to a farm in that city on Wednesday.
The president said he wants to increase supplies by cutting out red tape for farmers, expanding crop insurance and increasing competition among beef, pork and poultry producers.
Before his speech, he toured a family farm in Kankakee. The president arrived at the farm just hours after a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor showed inflation was up in April. That's a smaller increase than last month, but inflation remains near its fastest pace in 40 years.
President Biden said the war in Ukraine has worsened the problem and created global food supply challenges.
"Ukraine says they have 20 million tons of wheat in their silos right now. Twenty million tons. And guess what? If those tons don't get to market an awful lot of people in Africa are gonna starve to death," Biden said.
And at the Kankakee Fairgrounds, Trump supporters gathered to protest the president's visit.
The White House also faces challenges when it comes to rising fertilizer costs. Whatever the solution is, farmers hope it comes soon.
A University of Chicago economist said that to bring food prices back down to the normal inflation rate, he estimates it would take at least a 10% hike in production. To bring down gas and housing and other costs, it will take even more work.