[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 107 (Friday, August 5, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            MARKETING SEASON

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, ask any farmer what their happiest day is 
during the tobacco season and chances are they will quickly say it is 
the time when they take their crop to the market for sale.
  It is a day that represents Christmas presents, tuition payments, 
mortgage payments, farm operating loan payments--and hopefully some 
profit--all tied into one. A farmer once told me there is nothing quite 
like the feeling of having all your tobacco bales on the truck and 
headed to the market, knowing that a year's worth of sweat and toil 
will soon pay off.
  Like most facets of the tobacco life, the marketing season continues 
the traditions of family, work, and community. The tobacco warehouses 
become a hub of activity surrounded by festivals and parades marking 
this special time of the year.
  I do not know how many of my colleagues have been to a tobacco 
warehouse to watch the sales, but they are unlike any other auction you 
have ever seen.
  The burley tobacco warehouses will start accepting tobacco in October 
and the sales traditionally begin on the first Monday before 
Thanksgiving. After a short break at Christmas, the sales resume and 
usually conclude sometime in March.
  The sale is a rather raucous occasion, with an auctioneer walking 
down row after row of USDA-graded tobacco bundles, singing out the 
auction call as buyers closely follow, purchasing for the 
manufacturers. And you can be sure that farmers are nearby taking 
special note of the bids their crop is receiving.
  Whatever tobacco is not sold goes into what is known as the pool. 
These stocks become part of the Federal no-net-cost program, run 
through the tobacco-purchasing cooperatives, and are sold in following 
years.
  Each of the buyers, whether through hand signals, head nods, or a 
wink can purchase a basket of tobacco if they have the highest bid. 
However, the farmer always retains the right to either accept the bids 
for his tobacco or try to sell it again at a later time during the 
market season.
  These sales are conducted in 98 warehouses all over my State of 
Kentucky from Maysville to Bloomfield to Paducah to London.
  Anyone will tell you that the tobacco leaf being sold at these 
markets is the best in the world. And I can guarantee you that a farmer 
in Springfield, KY feels as much pride when his produce is sold as an 
autoworker does when that new car comes rolling off the assembly line 
in Detroit, MI, or Louisville, KY.
  But along with that pride runs a deep feeling that all has not been 
right with the tobacco market for the last few years--and more hard 
times may lay just around the corner.
  My farmers have watched as a product that means over $1 billion in 
annual farm income to my State comes under daily attack from all sides.
  They have watched as imported tobacco flooded into this country, 
driving down the amount of tobacco they were able to sell. In 1991, 
farmers in Kentucky were able to grow and sell 486 million pounds of 
tobacco. In 1993, that number was down to 405 million pounds. At the 
same time in 1991, approximately 136 million pounds of imported tobacco 
came into this country. It rose to over 198 million for the year of 
1993.
  And what does that mean to my farmers? Last year, it cost them as 
much as $140 million in sales. I know around here that does not always 
sound like a lot of money, but what industry in your State could take 
that kind of hit and still survive?
  As part of a Louisville Courier Journal series about the effect of 
imports on our State's economy, a tobacco farmer from Harrison county 
told how he was forced to put off buying a new tractor and making 
repairs to barns and fences on his farm.
  ``I'm going to have to make due with what I've got * * *'' he said. 
Another farmer interviewed said, ``Usually about this time of year I'm 
getting excited about starting next year's crop, but that feeling isn't 
there this year.''
  Mr. President, those are real Americans with real concerns.
  We tried to help them out by passing legislation to limit the amount 
of imported tobacco used in domestic cigarettes. If our law was not in 
place, some estimate Kentucky farmers would have lost $342 million in 
1994 sales.
  As many of my colleagues know, we are keeping up our efforts in this 
regard with the upcoming GATT treaty. Some have tried to undercut our 
work, but all we are trying to do is level the playing field and ensure 
our farmers have a fighting chance in the world trade market.
  We are trying to address inequities in the world market. Is it fair 
when certain countries completely prohibit the importation of our 
tobacco while at the same time send tens of thousands of pounds into 
this country?
  That is the choice we are facing.
  Mr. President, over the past week I have taken to the Senate floor to 
speak from the heart about a product that is interwoven into my State's 
history, its people, and their livelihoods.
  I hope that in some way I have helped educate some of my colleagues 
about tobacco and the situation we currently face. I also hope some of 
my colleagues now realize the repercussions my State will face if the 
many antitobacco efforts--both legislative and nonlegislative--are 
successful.
  President Eisenhower once said, ``Farming looks mighty easy when your 
plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.''
  I believe this same sentiment also applies to the tobacco patch.
  The tobacco farmers and their families are just like people you 
know--people who are trying to make a living the best way they can. I 
hope they receive the utmost consideration from my colleagues during 
this health care debate.

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