[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 97 (Thursday, July 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FARMERS CELEBRATE NEW FREEDOM

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                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 10, 1997

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, last year Congress passed a farm bill 
which provided farmers with the freedom they need to respond to market 
forces and more effectively compete in the global marketplace. This 
legislation represents a very fundamental departure from previous farm 
policy and allows much greater flexibility in planting decisions. 
Farmers have responded favorably to this new independence which places 
the decisions where they belong--with the farmers, not the Federal 
Government. This Member would like to commend to his colleagues the 
following editorial from the July 4, 1997, edition of the Lincoln 
Journal-Star, which highlights the positive changes brought about by 
the 1996 farm bill.
  By the way, this editorial viewpoint represents a turnaround in views 
by this Lincoln newspaper--apparently based upon the results obtained.

             [From the Lincoln Journal Star, July 4, 1997]

         Farmers Get More Freedom, Which Will Benefit Everyone

       This Fourth of July, many farmers are celebrating their 
     newfound independence.
       In a front-page story in the Journal Star this week, 
     Associated Press writer Robyn Tysver drew this telling image:
       `` `Free at last. Free at last,' '' Minden farmer LaMoine 
     Smith warbled one morning from the field on his cellular 
     phone.''
       The celebration is because this year, for the first time in 
     decades, farmers are free to plant what they want, thanks to 
     the Freedom to Farm Act. No more government restrictions. No 
     more trips to the Farm Service Agency in town to submit a 
     farm plan. No more certification of acres.
       The Journal Star joins in the celebration. Putting 
     decision-making in the hands of the farmers will, in the long 
     run, benefit them and the taxpayers who have been subsidizing 
     them. The change puts incentives before farmers to become 
     better business managers. There are rewards to stay on the 
     cutting edge.
       The picture of farmer Smith in the field cheering on his 
     cellular phone is an accurate one, for city folk who have 
     lost contact with agriculture. Farming ain't like the reruns 
     of ``Green Acres.' Farming today is cellular phones, 
     commodity prices by computer modem, fertilization by Global 
     Position System and more.
       The farmers who learn to use those hi-tech tools most 
     efficiently will be the ones reaping the greatest rewards 
     under the new system. Under the new system, there are real 
     decisions to be made. The best decision-makers are the ones 
     who will prosper.
       In the initial year of the Freedom to Farm Act, there have 
     been some changes in planting patterns, but farmers generally 
     were cautious.
       Because land no longer must remain idle under government 
     regulation, farmers put more into production. For example, 
     the number of acres planted in corn went up by 600,000 in 
     comparison with last year.
       Other responses were more directly market-driven. This 
     spring, soybeans were at $8.50 a bushel, prompting Nebraska 
     farmers to plant 650,000 acres more than last year.
       There was also a little experimentation. Farmers in Kansas 
     planted 12,000 acres of cotton. Farmers in Mississippi 
     planted 550,000 acres of corn.
       It's easy to celebrate this year, we acknowledge, because 
     for now farmers have the best of both worlds. They have both 
     freedom and a safety net, because the farm payments still 
     exist. The payments will be reduced gradually over a seven-
     year period. This year, farmers still have a fallback if they 
     made the wrong decisions last spring.
       By 2002, when price-support guarantees are scheduled to 
     end, there will no longer be a safety net. Freedom has its 
     price.
       Even now, support for the Freedom to Farm Act is far from 
     universal. A majority of farmers favor it, but there is a 
     minority who were happy with old regulations and the comfort 
     they brought.
       Their ranks could grow if the weather puts bumper crops of 
     soybeans and corn on the markets this fall, which would 
     depress prices.
       Farmers might have more freedom this Fourth of July, but 
     not from worrying about the weather. Some things never 
     change.

     

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