change which will incure continued food security and will protect and preserve some of our most basic and most important values As amily farmers we have been sustaining our nation by "uganiding, supporting and maintaining" our food security. we provide food and fiber which is of the highest quality The smallest percentage of Our consumer dollar. The Tolley of the past eight years has pushed us to the brink C1 disaster and we have lost hundreds of thousands of good men and women from our ranks. In short we have "suffered and endured" but the cost will be the loss of almost an entire generation of young farmers who will not have the careful nurturing and rearing on the farm necessary to the perpetuation of high quality professionals we have taken for granted since this nation was settled. inture The cost will also be felt in the depletion of the natural resources which have made us rich and our our agricultural production bountiful. Current farming practices take a toll in the quality of our air, water, and soil. We also are suffering from the erosion of rural society and rural values and democratic principles. Once gone, these things cannot easily be re-established or replaced. While family farmers have also fought gallantly to continue "nourishing" our way of life and those who partake of the fruits of our labor, we can not continue unless Congress truely espouses the concept of "sustainability" and makes a law which can sustain not only our businesses but also the *raditions of our family based land distribution system of food production. Thank you for hearing my testimony, and I look forward to working with you during the up coming debate and passage of the 1990 Farm Bill. -2 Additionally the consumer is looking for low fat meats. The rabbit fits that bill nicely, being competitive with seafood in all areas except it is more digestible and has more culinary flexibility. The perwing demand for seafood puts pressure on a badly overworked ocean, exposes consumers to untold potential for exposure to pollution and adds to our balance of payments problems as most feafood is imported. Further the rabbit adre ses the concern articulated by many about the demise of the family farm. This animal does not lend itself to the high intensity animal farm. This has the potential to provide supplemental income for the small farmer without the potential for pollution of poorly managed livestock operations. In spite of all these positives, rabbit faces many barriers. You can deal with some of these barriers. We have had no goverment research since 1963; we have the FDA creating artificial barriers for drag usare which means we have only one drug approved for rabbits; we have financially burdsome inspection requirements for rabbits intended for interstate shipment that no major meat industry faces, while we allow uninspected Chinense rabbit to be imported. -3 Specifically we would request: Research funding in nutrition; mecication and husbandry techniques; relief from financially unfair inspection requirements; equal footing with imported rabbits and low cost loans for processing plants, the lack of which has been a major developmental roadblock. It is worth noting that this area of Indiana, particularly the Fourth and Fifth Congressional Districts, represents an unusual opportunity for such research. This is due to a large number of sound feed companies, numerous nationally recognized rabbit breeders and a reservoir of skilled animal agrculturists capable of implementing sound livestock operations. In summary: Perspiration and inspiration is required for any worthwhile project. We will provide the first ingredient if you will provide the second. Agriculture, like all good things, is in a constant state of change. leeds, values and perceptions change. The cosumption patterns that dr ive the engine of agriculture are changing. Too often the reaction to such change is on the down side of the curve of change. With your leadership we can be on the upside of this curve. The organization I represent, and many others like it, stand ready to assist in any way we can. I have several colleagues with me. We FORMULATION OF THE 1990 FARM BILL MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 1989 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON WHEAT, SOYBEANS, AND FEED GRAINS, Pueblo, CO. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 8:30 a.m., Colorado State Fairgrounds, 4-H Building, 1001 Beulah Avenue, Pueblo, CO, Hon. Dan Glickman (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Campbell and Marlenee. Also present: Representative Brown of Colorado. Staff present: Joseph Muldoon, assistant counsel; Greg Frazier, Anne C. Keys, and Cliff Humphrey. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAN GLICKMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS Mr. GLICKMAN. The Wheat, Soybeans, and Feed Grains Subcommittee will come to order. Mr. Marlenee will be here shortly from Montana, the ranking Republican member, and this way, I will get my opening statement out of the way, and let your own distinguished Congressman say a few words. We are delighted to be here in the great State of Colorado for one of a series of hearings which focuses on what the 1990 farm bill ought to look like. I say that because this is the Subcommittee on Wheat, Soybeans, and Feed Grains, but I want to make it clear that I have been told by the chairman of the full committee that we are authorized to hear testimony on everything as it affects agriculture. We know that in your great State of Colorado, you not only produce the commodities in our jurisdiction, but this is a big livestock-producing State. There is a lot of dairy here, fruits and vegetables, timber, and, so, I want folks to feel very comfortable to talk about any subject as it relates to next year's farm policy. Second of all, I, of course, come from the neighboring State of Kansas, and I recall that the first territorial Governor of Kansas was a man named Denver. Now, I do not know how Kansas gave up the Rocky Mountains back in the 1850's. I will tell you, however, that I am going to do some research about it while I am here to see if there is some way to correct that mistake that was made because we could use the additional territory for the tourism. I think we want Pueblo back. So, actually, Ben, you are part of my State. I just want to let you know that. (255) |