Page images
PDF
EPUB

the principal crop. Historically, cotton has been king here in west Tennessee and I guess soybeans has either caught up with it or is close second, but in between, in the middle section of our State and in the eastern and west and in the areas that are represented outside of Tennessee, we are going to hear witnesses from practically every product that is produced on the farms across America.

And there is one thing that we have in common, I think we are going to hear from the witnesses and we already know and hopefully we are going to learn more about, and that is that we have all shared the difficulties of the last 2 years. We have all had the bad weather, we have all had the weak markets, we have all had the increased-and I feel unwarranted-governmental regulations that pursue us. And now we are dealing with soaring fuel costs.

I am sure we are going to hear about all those things and I am hopeful that we are going to get some information here that we can take back to Washington and translate into some sort of action that is going to make our farming community here in Tennessee and in the areas that are represented here today and all across this land a little stronger, for the sake of the farm families and for the sake of the entire country.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. John.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER JOHN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF LOUISI

ANA

Mr. JOHN. Yes, I also want to I guess jump on the bandwagon with my colleagues to thank the chairman and also the ranking member for having the foresight to be able to put together a host of hearings throughout the country. I think that to see the urgency of the situation and not wait until a couple of years down the road to be able to do this, so we can get a lot of testimony in the backyards of where a lot of the problems are. What I told a lot of folks in my district and back up in Washington is that these field hearings are all about talking to the folks that are in the fields, getting their hands dirty and having those experiences. And I think that that is why we are here today and I thank the chairman for hosting this event, especially down in the southeastern region of the United States where, of course, agriculture and rice and cattle are especially troublesome to me in these times of dire straits of our agriculture industry.

So thank you very much. I will look forward to hearing from a couple of folks from southwest Louisiana, rice farmers and cattle farmers, that will talk about their perspective of where we should go and what their problems are. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Riley.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BOB RILEY, A REPRESENTA-
TIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA
Mr. RILEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Being from Alabama, it is
good to be in the city that gave us Elvis Presley.

But let me tell you something, folks. If you look back at what has happened in the last few years, you realize that there is a lot of talk in this country today about an economic boom, about our cap

ital markets being so high, about our Dow Jones hitting all-time records. But we have not participated as a farm entity in this prosperity. And one of the things we are trying to do today is to figure out whether or not we are going to make that fundamental decision of whether or not we are going to protect our farmers in this country. Europe made this choice a few years ago, they said that it is important to their country, they do not want to, as Marion said a moment ago, ever be dependent for food. We have got to make those same kind of choices in the United States today.

So I would ask each one of you to be as candid as you possibly can today, tell us exactly what your problems are, try to give us some solutions. Most of you understand what your problems are more than we ever will. So in your testimony when you talk to us, tell us not only what your problems are, but see if you can help us reach some kind of solution so we can go back to Washington and be an effective voice for you when we get back.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Simpson.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO Mr. SIMPSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I do appreciate you and the ranking member holding these farm hearings around the country.

As was mentioned, I am from Idaho and I think it is important not only to learn about the problems that exist in your own region of the country, but to try and get around to the rest of the country and learn about the agricultural situations there. So I am very pleased we were in Lubbock, as you said 10 days ago and I found that very interesting dealing with some of the farm problems there that I am not familiar with. And I look forward today to listening to those people that are going to testify about some of the crops that I am not particularly familiar with coming from Idaho. And so I hope to learn about the problems that you are facing here as we move on with these farm hearings around the entire country to learn more and more about the problems in agriculture and I suspect we are going to find that many of the problems that are faced here are some of the same problems that are being faced all over the country.

So I thank you for holding these hearings and I thank the people for coming today.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Tanner.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN S. TANNER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

Mr. TANNER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I want to express my gratitude as well, although I am not a member of your committee, for inviting us to participate here in west Tennessee. And I want to welcome you to the Ed Jones Ampitheater here at the Memphis Agriculture Center. He was my predecessor in this office, as was another fellow that was pretty famous years ago named Davy Crockett. Now I know that you and the ranking member, Mr. Stenholm both are from Texas. We here in west Ten

nessee feel like we deserve a little consideration because of what Davy Crockett did for Texas several years ago, and we would like for you all to produce something while you are down here. [Laughter.]

Mr. STENHOLM. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. TANNER. No, I will not yield. [Laughter.]

Mr. TANNER. Seriously, all of us know, and particularly here in west Tennessee, we are not in an agricultural downturn, we are in a full-blown crisis. And the reason I say that is because we have competent, efficient farmers who simply are not going to be able to continue in that profession under present policies and under present circumstances.

Peculiarly, we have a boll weevil problem with cotton here and the Boll Weevil Eradication Program will be addressed by others from west Tennessee, primarily Mr. King from Haywood County. The first witness is from my home county and I want to again thank you all for taking the sense of urgency that we in the agricultural community of this country feel, as it relates to what is going on, both from weather and from prices.

So again, may I just simply convey on behalf of all Tennesseans, including Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Bryant, who is going to speak and my young friend, Mr. Ford, who came in. We appreciate you all being in Memphis to hold this hearing and we look forward to it. [The prepared statement of Mr. Tanner follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN S. TANNER

I want to thank Chairman Combest and Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm for agreeing to hold a field hearing in order to gain more knowledge about what is happening in the agriculture community in Tennessee and surrounding States. I appreciate their willingness to travel here, along with other members of the committee. In addition, I want to thank all who came today to participate, especially those farmers who had to leave work in the field.

Mr. Chairman, I was born, raised and have lived my entire life right here in west Tennessee, and my family still farms. So, I know farmers. I know that farmers are hard-working folks. As legislators, we've been known to keep long hours, but that pales in comparison with the life of a farmer. Due to the nature of their profession, farmers are perfectionists, attentive to even the most minute detail, and creatures of habit. They quietly go about their jobs, and it is rare to see them leave the farm during daylight hours, and rarer still to hear them complain. So, it did not go unnoticed when hundreds of farmers showed up at Crockett County High School in Alamo to meet with Charlie Stenholm and myself.

I invited Charlie down to visit with the farmers in my district this past spring. Charlie is a valued friend and a great guy. He has even been known to be somewhat entertaining on occasion, but these farmers didn't show up to be entertained. No, it was quite clear on this day that they were quite concerned for their future. They came because their circumstances were so dire as to merit leaving their fields to tell their congressman and one of this Nation's top agricultural policymakers about their problems. Although it was obvious to me long before this meeting that there was a problem, the fact that the number of people attending this meeting of farmers, which took place in the middle of the afternoon, was the largest crowd of any town hall meeting that I've held in my 12 years in Congress, reaffirmed my suspicions that agriculture is facing one of the worst economic set backs since the Great Depression.

I believe that it is a wise man who is a student of history. History shows us that a strong sovereign nation has three common traits: (1) a strong national defense; (2) a strong economy and; (3) the internal capacity to feed its citizens. A strong national defense is the most important because without it, a stronger nation can simply come and take your economy and your food supply. If a nation is not able to feed its own, it is forced to rely on outside sources to satisfy this most basic human need. As a result, a nation's dependency on outside sources becomes a liability and relegates the nation to the role of subservient.

As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in rural west Tennessee. Over the course of my life I have seen the number and size of farms dwindle. The explanation is simple, fewer children are choosing to follow in their parent's footsteps. There are a number of contributing factors. Despite the technological advancements, farming is still a tough profession. Generations of potential farmers have seen the difficulty their parents have experienced, not just the physical toil but also the mental and emotional battles. They've seen their parents work 12 to 14 hour days and live a relatively humble existence, yet still struggle to pay their bills. The expansion of wealth and decades of local, State and Federal programs have created new opportunities and made it possible for generations of potential farmers to choose to leave the farm and pursue their dreams elsewhere.

While I welcome the creation of new opportunities for rural America, the current trend is of great concern to me. Truth be told, we need farmers. It is in our national interest to encourage the new generations of potential farmers to stay on the farm. The fewer farmers we have, the more reliant we become on other nations to feed our own citizens. Again, I do not believe that this current price crisis threatens our way of life nor do I foresee us completely losing our domestic capacity for food production. However, one need not become completely dependent upon another nation in order to feel the affects of this dependency.

I believe we can avoid such a future of dependency by making it more advantageous to farm. The United States is currently enjoying the longest economic expansion in our history. The problem is, we are enjoying it without the very people who feed us. This is unacceptable. We must reevaluate current agricultural policies in an effort to provide a more predictable marketplace and ensure that our farmers are provided basic, fundamental safeguards. While new policies will help with many of the most immediate problems, the key to the future lies in working together within our communities and within the Congress to resolve our differences regarding trade, so that our farmers may enjoy the same access as other nations to the 95 percent of the world's consumers that reside outside our own borders. Without this expanded access, it won't matter what we do domestically for our farmers because they will never be able to compete with their foreign competitors.

To be certain, the inability of the current programs to adequately respond to the ongoing price crisis and resulting market troubles underscores the need to revise the so-called Freedom to Farm bill. Last year, Secretary Glickman declared our entire State eligible for USDA disaster assistance. Farmers were sent reeling by poor weather, natural disasters and of course the financial crisis in Asia, Russia, Brazil and other countries. In addition, we suffered a "price crisis" as a result of a saturated world market. The Jackson Sun is currently publishing a year-long series on agriculture in west Tennessee calling it "Farming at a Crossroads: A Growing Concern." The series so far is validating the gravity of these issues. I recommend these articles to the committee and request unanimous consent to have the articles from The Jackson Sun submitted for the record. Other countries subsidize their farmers substantially making it cheaper for them to operate and produce more, which ultimately drives prices down for our farmers. We must find and implement better farm-relief policies which allow the Secretary and farmers to deal quickly with the challenges of falling commodity prices, heavily subsidized foreign agriculture production, natural disasters, poor weather conditions and crop diseases. All of these conditions have left the farmer out in the cold, unable to share in the economic prosperity that is being enjoyed by others. It has been said that the biggest challenge for today's farmers is staying out of the bankruptcy courts.

Something is extremely wrong with our long-term agriculture policy when the $15 billion in additional disaster aid approved by Congress in the last 2 years is not enough to boost the agriculture economy and save our family farmers. Neither our farmers nor our efforts to restore fiscal discipline to our Federal budget can continue to survive such drastic and short-sighted solutions. Clearly, it is time for a more comprehensive solution.

We have heard a lot of talk, since the 1996 Freedom to Farm bill, about the lack of a safety net for farmers. Theoretically I am told, the act was designed to alleviate the need for a safety net. Instead, our farmers could rely on the market for income. They would be free from Government intervention, free to farm in an open competitive market. Further, farmers would be given "market transition" payments to help make the transition to self-sufficiency. Unfortunately, it hasn't quite worked out like it was supposed to. I will readily admit that I don't have the answers, but I do know that something must be done sooner rather than later to provide our farmers with more stability.

In addition to our internal policies, we must do whatever is necessary to give our farmers the opportunity to get out there and compete with their foreign competitors. Part of the 1996 farm bill was a commitment to provide our farmers with new trade

opportunities, which would expand their potential markets, providing additional opportunities to increase their income. I have heard Charlie Stenholm state that without new trade opportunities, the 1996 act amounts to unilateral disarmament for American farmers. I think he is absolutely right.

It is quite clear to me that trade is important to American agriculture and that further trade agreements are not only complimentary to our domestic policies but absolutely crucial to providing security for our farmers. In this country, we grow and produce more agricultural products than we consume, and the excess is sent overseas. Thankfully, the sale of our excess production has led to a trade surplus in the area of agricultural exports. Last year, agricultural exports accounted for about $50 billion of our $2 trillion in total exports. Exports accounted for about 25 percent of farm income for the two million farmers in the United States. About 30 percent of all crop acreage is exported. In Tennessee, 50 percent or every other row, of soybeans grown is exported, and 40 percent of the cotton baled here is exported. The trend in total U.S. exports has increased over the years, but again, the agriculture sector is not fully enjoying this trend. For example, agricultural exports in 1998 were down $10 billion from $60 billion in 1996. U.S. agriculture is two times more dependent upon trade than any other sector of the American economy. Average tariffs on U.S. agriculture commodities worldwide are 45 percent, which is more than 10 times that of the worldwide tariff on U.S. manufactured goods. In addition to the high tariffs, agricultural exports continue to be subjected to foreign governments assisting their farmers with export subsidies, value-added taxes and domestic supports. Also, farmers in other countries are becoming increasingly competitive with the assistance of the expanse of technological innovation.

Farming has never been easy. Today, a whole new set of challenges exist. Not only do farmers have to know how to prepare the land, plant and harvest, and fight unpredictable weather, but they must be extremely wise businesspeople. Not so long ago, farmers in Tennessee took their crops to market and sold them to people they knew. Today, nearly one-third of a farms production and about one-fourth of a farmer's income is dependent upon sales of his annual yield to people he doesn't know, living in places he not only hasn't seen but may not even know exists. Understanding the international marketplace and an appreciation for the complex relationship between the world's political and economic health and their farm here in west Tennessee is a prerequisite for today's farmer.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to point out that I disagree with some proposals that are being discussed to further consolidate county Farm Service Agency offices. Tennessee has already taken its fair share of office and employee reductions. For the life of me, I can not understand why we need to further reduce the office and staff of the FSA. FSA staffing has been cut almost 30 percent since 1994, but in that same period, over 20 programs have been implemented that the agency is expected to administer. These are the people that help farmers most, and they are desperately needed in Tennessee and across the Nation to help quickly process applications and to provide other types of assistance especially during this time of uncertainty. I would urge the committee to address this matter to see if an amicable solution can be reached with the appropriators to adequately fund FSA operations and spare it from further budget reductions.

In closing, I want to reiterate my belief that it is time to revisit the 1996 farm bill and to develop a more comprehensive, long-term policy which provides our farmers with some stability. In addition, we need to work together to ensure that our farmers are given the opportunity to compete. Now, I realize these are both formidable challenges, but this committee is filled with people who I know and respect. Members of this committee are quite knowledgeable about the finer nuances of agriculture, and I believe that this committee can help turn this thing around. To that end, I stand ready and willing to do all I can to assist in this cause.

Again, thank you for you willingness to travel here today and for recognizing the contribution of Tennessee's farmers.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Bryant.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ED BRYANT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE Mr. BRYANT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I also want to add our welcome to you, both to you and the ranking member and all the other members that we are pleased to have here in Tennessee. This is a very large number of House Members to get anywhere, so I am particularly honored on behalf of the Tennessee delegation

« PreviousContinue »