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December 8, 1999 Committee Works to help Missouri`s Family Farms Missouri`s family farmers are, by nature, a hardy group. They`ve hung on through the Great Depression of the 1930s. More recently, they`ve weathered the tough times of the farm crisis of the 1980s. They`ve clung to the land and built agriculture in this state into one of the most important elements of Missouri`s economy. But once again, Missouri`s farmers have been facing dark times. Since 1994, livestock and crops grown by Missouri farmers have often brought prices less than the cost of production, the lowest prices in 50 years. In many cases, prices are still far below the break-even mark. Now, the state is baking in a drought which threatens to break records dating back to the 1930s. Reports show a 50 percent crop loss in some areas with reduced yields in corn as well as heavy damage to soybean crops across the state. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared all of Missouri`s 114 counties eligible for disaster relief. Because of this double-whammy of low prices and severe drought, more and more farmers are facing the loss of their livelihood than at almost any other time in history. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri estimates that up to 17 percent of the state`s farms are at risk of failing. If drought conditions persist, FAPRI projects that by this time next year as many as 49 percent of Missouri farms could be in danger of failure. Against this backdrop, members of the House Interim Committee on Agriculture spent a week in September and several days in November touring the state talking to farmers, bankers, agriculture businessmen, U.S. and state agriculture department officials, university experts and students. The testimony, at times, was emotional. Missouri`s family farmers are afraid they are losing their way of life. Through this process members of the committee, a bi-partisan group of 14 legislators--most farmers themselves--dedicated their time to finding ways to help the state`s family farmers not only survive, but thrive and be profitable in the future. The committee has published a series of nine recommendations for legislative and state action. The recommendations include: establishing the state`s own meat packers and stockyard act to ensure that Missouri farmers get fair prices for their commodities; extending the time deadlines for farmers to pay back their low interest loans through Missouri First Linked Deposit Program; and encouraging the expansion of the state Department of Agriculture`s Farmer`s Market Program. The committee report also outlines other topics for discussion as well as a series of recommendations for change in federal agriculture policy which will be sent to the state`s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. The fate of Missouri`s farms is in question. But members of the House Interim Committee on Agriculture believe that there is light on the horizon. Through the programs passed by the state during the 1999 session of the General Assembly, and through the strategies outlined in their recent report there is hope for Missouri farmers. It is my hope that Washington, D.C. and the current Congress will listen and respond to this desperate crisis on the farm. | |||||
Paid for by Kreider for Senator.
Bobby Neal Jr., Treasurer. Not at taxpayer's expense.
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