[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1096-H1097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE PLIGHT OF SMALL FARMERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to urge my colleagues 
to be a part of legislation that will help many farmers and ranchers 
who are struggling to survive. There are two initiatives that I and 
others will introduce to respond to serious problems confronting this 
Nation's farmers and ranchers, particularly small farmers and ranchers.
  First, the onerous provisions of the 1996 farm bill that ban family 
farmers and ranchers from receiving a loan from the United States 
Department of Agriculture if a previous loan had been written down are 
causing many farmers and ranchers to go out of business. We must 
correct the credit barriers created by the 1996 farm bill.
  Farmers who have had credit problems under that bill are treated 
worse than persons who are declared in bankruptcy. Work is in progress 
for the legislation to fix this problem.
  Another damaging problem is the continuing and very real threat by 
the Department of Justice to issue an opinion stating that the 
complainants in discrimination cases that did not file a lawsuit within 
2 years cannot get money damages even if they show discrimination. The 
Department has taken that position because of its interpretation of the 
law regarding the statute of limitations.
  When that decision is issued, and if it holds, complainants in many 
of the pending cases are at risk of getting nothing for a lifetime of 
suffering. Again, without relief in cases where relief is merited, 
small farmers and ranchers who have been discriminated against will be 
driven out of business. We cannot tolerate that result.
  Farmers have been important to this Nation's past and farmers are 
vital to this Nation's future, especially the small family farmers and 
ranchers.
  American producers, who represent less than 3 percent of the 
population, provide more than enough food and fiber to meet the needs 
of our Nation as well as many nations overseas. Our Nation's farms have 
changed greatly since the late 1950s. In 1959, there were more than 2.4 
million small farms, those less than 180 acres in the United States, 
and over 172,000 farms in North Carolina, representing 6.9 percent. By 
1978, the Nation's number of small farms had declined to a little over 
1.3, a loss of 1.1 million small farms. In that same period, North 
Carolina lost 106,262 small farms, bringing its total to 66,091 small 
farms.
  It is important to note that by 1990, almost a quarter of all small 
farmers had income below the poverty line, more than twice the Nation's 
average. And by 1992, there were only 1.1 million small farms left in 
the United States, a 45 percent decline from 1959. North Carolina had 
only a little over 39,000 farms left in 1992, a decline of 23 percent.
  Several factors have accelerated the demise of small producers: 
globalization of commerce, economies of scale, limited access to 
capital and technological advances. The existence of worldwide markets 
for all commodities, not just agriculture commodities, have created 
unique market forces and pressures that producers of the past did not 
have to compete with. But now American producers have to cope with the 
substantially larger and less accommodating world markets in which to 
vend their merchandise with competitors who play by sometimes 
significantly different rules.
  With regard to technology, inventions have paved the way for 
substantial high-level mechanization and modern agriculture, but the 
technological advances usually come at a very high price and one that 
most often small farmers are unable to afford. Often small producers 
are also limited-resource producers. These disadvantaged farmers many 
times have severe constraints in access to capital for various reasons, 
including the sheer lack of collateral, the inability to demonstrate 
the wherewithal to repay a loan and the paucity of funds made available 
by such lending institutions.
  However, all these have had an even sharper influence on minority 
farmers and ranchers. Indeed, we know that we must correct this issue, 
Mr. Speaker.
  I urge my colleagues, as they will consider this legislation as it 
comes before them, that we cannot allow small farmers and small 
ranchers not to have this legislation.
  Economies of scale are factors as many small producers do not have 
the tools necessary to achieve the most efficient methods of production 
as they frequently are priced out of the market for implements, land 
and other inputs. Also one must be cognizant of the impact of vertical 
integration, concentration and contract farming on the role of the 
twentieth-century producer.
  However, the aforementioned factors have had an even sharper 
influence on minority farmers and ranchers. In 1920, there were over 6 
million farms in the United States and close to sixth--926,000 were 
operated by African-Americans. In 1992, the landscape was very, very 
different. Only 1% of the 1.9 million farms in the United States are 
operated by African-Americans.
  One-percent--18,816, is a paltry sum when African-Americans comprise 
13% of the total American population. In my home state of North 
Carolina, there has been a 64% decline in minority farmers, just over 
the last 15 years, from 6,996 farms in 1978 to 2,498 farms in 1992.
  There are several reasons why the number of minority and limited 
resource farmers are declining so rapidly, but the one that has been 
documented time and time again is the discrimination in the credit 
extended from the Department of Agriculture, the very agency 
established by the U.S. government to accommodate and assist the 
special needs of all farmers and ranchers.

[[Page H1097]]

  Mr. Speaker, at the end of each day, those of us in government must 
be honest and answer the question, by our policies, who have we helped 
and who have we hurt?
  The priorities of the United States, make a statement about who we 
are and where we stand. It signals to our citizens and to the world the 
principles by which our lives are governed.
  I urge each of my colleagues to be continually dedicated to the small 
farmers and ranchers of our great nation by becoming an original co-
sponsor of legislation that will soon be introduced to fix the credit 
and statute of limitations problems.

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