Date: 1990-01-30
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague for yielding. Just briefly. to conclude this presentation by our colleagues today. let me remind the Members of where we came from since the mid1980s. At that time we were losing our export markets. grain and dairy surpluses were mounting. taxpayers costs were growing. prices for farmland had collapsed and farm debt was forcing thousands out of farming. The 1985 farm bill laid the groundwork for Improvement. There are a lot of other things that impact on how agriculture survives. but farm legislation is a major factor. We are now more competitive in pricing for export markets. we are more aggressive in export programs. we have better management and supply controls. and we provide income protection to farmers. Legislation is the art of the possible. and the 1985 act was what was possible at that date. at that hour and that minute. I might just compare this to what happened Sunday when everyone watched the Super Bowl. Each coach came with a game plan. Well. one coachs game plan worked and the other ones did not. The fact is. though. that they update their game plans up to the very minute. They use computers. and they scout the other teams and watch films. They do a lot of preparation. A farm bill Is a game plan for 5 years. and it is done without a crystal ball. We gaze into the future and feel the sensitivity of what we need. So now we find that taxpayers costs are down. We had a record high of $26 billion in 1986. and CBO projects for fiscal 1990 $7A billion. On the subject of direct payments to farmers. I have this very interesting statistic. Some who have inadequate information have criticized the payments In 1987 to farmers under the farm support programs. But they averaged then $18.)00 per farmer. and now they are down to $14.000 per farmer. even though we have a total limitation payment of $50.000. This is the average. The export value has rebounded. It was only $26 billion in 1985. We bounced back to $40 billion In 1989. Our share of the world market is up. In 198586. on wheat we had 26 percent. and coarse grains 39 percent. rice 15 percent. and on cotton 10 percent of the total markets. In 198889. rice has 21 percent. coarse grains is up to 52 percent. and wheat is up to 37 percent. Our commodity stocks are at marageable levels. Income protection and strong prices have helped reduce farm debt. The net cash income of farmers is up. It was $46.7 billion in 1985 and $53 billion in 1989. Net farm income set records in 1989. That is production production value plus Government payments. and then including all crops. It was $32.4 billion in 1985 and $48 billion in 1989. which is a record. Farm foreclosures are down. Only three agricultural banks failed in the first 3 months of 1989. This is the lowest quarterly figure we had In 5 years. The best estimate is that between 200.000 and 300.000 farmers left farming for financial reasons between 1980 and 1988. The farm exit rate was 5 to 6 percent per year in the mid1980s. and now it is between 3 and 4 percent. This we have done with assistance from the Federal Government. So we expect a stronger farming economy in 1990. Now. the budget has been mentioned before. I think it is unfair that when we are less than 4 percent of the budget. the Presidents proposed budget imposes 18 percent of the cuts on us. I think that is unfair. We have spoken about international trade and the environment. Agriculture faces major challenges. soil erosion. loss of wetlands. pesticides. livestock waste runoff. and ground water contamination. We have addressed those issues. but no one gives us credit for it. We have the Conservation Reserve Program. Swampbuster. Sodbuster. and the Conservation Compliance. At the hearing in Fayetteville. NC. yesterday I mentioned this as a major accomplishment. Everyone says that the farmers are polluting the ground water. But every time they build a complex in the suburb of a city. a shopping center. and they build acres and acres of parking lots. that helps to pollute the ground water. I am not pointing the finger at industrial complexes. but it is true that every Industrial complex and every nonfarming building development takes space from the land. forces water to run off somewhere. and likewise causes the pollution that we must address. The farmers livelihood depends on the environment. This is something that few people understand. The farmer Is out of business if he does not have good soil. good water. and clean air. So he is the one who has a number one interest in the environment. because he is out of business otherwise. The public wants a cleaner environment and safer foods. Well. that is the farmers business. The farmer is at the mercy of the consumer. He does not press his product on the consumer. If the consumer does not buy his product. he is out of business. So the consumer basically sets the ground rules for what the farmer produces. The price of transportation tells us how much we are going to pay for an airplane ticket. for a bus ticket. or for a train ride. Those who sell automobiles tell us how much the automobile is going to cost. Those who sell refrigerators tell us the cost of that item. We go to the dry goods store. and they tell us the price. Everywhere we go. they tell us what the price is of that item. But the farmer has to sit at home and see what the market is going to pay. what the farmers market in his local area is going to pay. He does not know. unless he has contracted. what he is going to get for that commodity. Yet we have the best farmers in the world. and we are the best fed people in the world. That is not to say there is not hunger in America. but It has never been the fault of the farmer. It means that something went wrongthey did not have a job. there has been a disaster. or they are the homeless. There are those who are unfortunate enough not to have daily sustenance. But it has never been the fault of the farmer. Something else went wrong. We are going to continue to work on that. I must mention that we did not address the issue of agricultural research. which is so important. Actually it begins with research. and then it goes to development. then to extension. and then it goes to the farmer and finally to the consumer. I might point out that over the past 20 years I have known a friend of mine who had yields once of 30 bushels of corn to the acre. and now he has almost 140 bushels to the acre. This is the same farmer and the same farmland. With the tools we have given him. the research. the hybrids. the pesticides. and the fungicides. the farmer has been able to do this. This has accrued to the benefit of our country and to the benefit of the world. We will continue doing this. We have the safest food in the world bar none. and we will continue seeing that we have the safest food. Finally let me talk about the challenge for the rest of the 1990s and into the 21st century. The United Nations Population Fund predicts world population will likely double over the next 35 years. 5.2 billion in 1989. 10 billion by 2025. The world is going to look to us because we have the fertile soils and climate. we have the capability. we have the technology. and we have the desire to produce. This is what is so very important. Finally let me say just one more thing. Who is the farmer? What is he all about? Why do we want to give him a helping hand? For everything that he does. Mr Speaker and my colleagues. the main thing is: Who is a farmer? There is an old Spanish saying In my area of Texas: "If you go on the land. and you dont feel the vibratiorl. forget it. Its not going to grow for you. Youre not a farmer." Mr. Speaker. that is what it is all about. and this is what I would like my colleagues to know. The farmer Is not someone out there wanting money from the Government. He is not someone out there wanting to be a sensation or a hero. He is just someone out there that God gave that Inherent feeling. that vibration. so when he steps upon the land to make things grow. they feed all of Gods children. Mr. Speaker. that is what a farmer is all about. and that is what this discussion today is all about.