Statement to: The U.S. House Agriculture Sub Committee on Wheat, Soybeans and Feed Grains By: William Basting, president Allen County Farmers Union Good afternoon- I am William Basting, a Professional Farmer, County President of the Allen County Farmers Union and a member of the Board Of Directors Of The Indiana Farmers Union. I would like to thank you for this time to give my brief testimony on the 1990 Farm Bill. A great many family farms all across this country, are watching you with much anxiety. A good Farm Bill could keep a great number of these farms in business. A bad farm bill would spell the demise to many of these same farms. A new Farm Bill in 1990, MUST, I repeat must, be taylored to guarantee the sustainabilty of the family farm, our nation's largest industry. You must understand that our whole national economy is tied directly to the farm economy. All forms of industry suffer when farmers can't buy. The domino effect to play here if it apply's anywhere. comes I think it is fitting and proper to critize several former Congresses and Administrations for what they have done to farmers by continually forcing commodity prices lower, while the rest of Our economy continued on the inflation spiral. In recent years Congress has been too much "under the influence" of the grain traders, chemical manufacturers and others whose only concern is continuing a huge volume of agriculture production. Their lobbying efforts are in the best interest of their business but we farmers are the ones who take the brunt of it. It was simply planned "economic starvation" and not inefficiency that forced hundreds of thousands of farmers off the land in recent years. - have Our U.S. "low price" grain policy has also made us the enemy in the eyes of millions of farmers in many other countries throughout the world. They simply do not understand why we an agriculture policy that keeps lowering world market prices. And ladies & gentelmen neither do I understand it. I urge you to finally consider the producer at the top of your list and -- see that he is able to receive a fair return on his labor and investment. Don't worry about the agri-businesses SO much. They have the "trickle up" theory and they know how to use it. Please be reminded also that in the long run, livestock prices are influenced by grain prices. Cheap grain causes increased livestock production then down the road, lower prices and letters of complaint coming to your offices from those producers. - National Farmers Union and most professional family farms ask for a simplified and more direct farm bill that returns to the goal of assuring a resonable livelihood by providing price and income protection to assure the family farmer an income level that compete's with other professional peers. Points that need to be changed or inserted into a new farm bill are: WHEAT AND FEED GRAINS Bases need be established by units of prduction sufficient meet our domestic, export and reserve needs. Farmer owned reserves should be used to prevent shortages. On farm storage of grain should be paid at the same rate as commercial storage. Loan rates need to be raised to a profitable level. The Findley Provisions need to be repealed. A catastophic loss pool must be formulated. Allow producers time to prove actual yields. to CPR could be used as a last resort for land on which the soil Most of us realize the severe problem that prolonged chemical use can cause to groundwater, and to some or all types of soil. We realize there are many more votes in the non farm sector, than in the farm sector; but we would rather have this problem addressed and worked into a farm bill, than to have tough restrictions placed on us because of the increased pressure put on Congress by special interest and environmental groups. DAIRY AND LIVESTOCK The support price program should reflect a two-tiered approach. Milk marketing orders should be updated by consolidating them to the extent it would improve producer income and market administration and by replacing the current system using multiple basing points and component pricing. We must also review the idea of surplus dairy products. The Packers and Stockyards Act should be reviewed to protect all livestock producers from unfair competition and monopolistic practices by strenghening enforcement provisions. Producers have no control over the price of their product, they are at the mercy of: Weather Government Policy Chicago Board Of Trade Farm votes will hold you accountable for what you give them in a farm bill. I ask of you, is there a choice but to form a workable farm bil1, that will give farmers a chance to make a profit? Many farms will depend on a solid farm program to survive in the 1990's. Taxpayers need to be better educated as to the primary purpose and value of farm programs. They do not understand that no other industry or business in this country could stay in business very long, if they were forced to use the same type of "auction hammer" market system that agriculture is forced to use. This market system must have a floor installed by a farm program. And this floor should not be less than the total cost of production, plus a resonable US profit. The average non-farm taxpayer understands that his paycheck is not subject to the whims "traders and gamblers" and therefore can understand that farmers should not have to put up with such a system in order to receive fair and just prices. - of Simplify and strengthen the farm programs, but do not eliminate them. In closing. I ask that you give deep thought to what the 1990 Farm Bill will do to, and also can do for the family farm. We can not afford to lose any more family farms. Thank You, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. INDIANA CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION 8770 GUION ROAD, SUITE A INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 46268 TELEPHONE: 317-876-9311 STATEMENT by JOHN NIDLINGER DISTRICT DIRECTOR INDIANA CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION before the COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES on August 8, 1989 Columbia City, Indiana Good afternoon, I am John Nidlinger, a corn, soybean and hog farmer from Decatur, Indiana. I serve as a director on the state board of the Indiana Corn Growers Association. Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you and share some issues of critical importance to corn growers that will be debated as you develop a successor to the 1985 Food Security Act. We must all be very cognizant of the fact that what we are discussing today is not the next Farm Bill, but a Food Security Act. The Indiana Corn Growers Association recognizes that while domestic farm policy is extremely important to the prosperity of the farm sector, farmers must be ready and willing to address issues other than target prices, export programs, etc. Within this framework, I will offer our organization's views in three major The Food Security Act of 1985 was flexible and adaptable enough to address the mounting grain stocks that plagued both the marketplace and the federal budget. One key component of the act was the creation of the Conservation Reserve Program. While the CRP was very successful, it needed to go farther and faster. The CRP should be continued and possibly expanded. The program's acreage should be accepted more quickly so that we don't continue to pay crop deficiency payments on cropland that will eventually be bid into the CRP program in a few years. We encourage the USDA to investigate the possible extension of CRP contracts for an additional 5-10 years, as land that has been planted to trees will not become productive in the initial ten-year time frame. We encourage the development of filter strips adjacent to environmentally fragile sites in addition to waterways, and allow these strips to be bid into an expanded CRP. These should be brought in under a new provision and not at the exclusion of cropland destined for the original CRP acreage targets. The last two years have stirred a controversy in the crop insurance arena. The ICGA believes there is a need for "insurance" of some type. However, farmers will not purchase Federal Crop Insurance if they are confident that the federal government will step in to provide disaster assistance, in a real emergency. A level of consistency must be established and maintained. Either we should have available, workable and affordable crop insurance or we should |