[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15873]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO THE KANSAS WHEAT HARVEST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, in Kansas today the combines and 
harvest crews are rolling through day 13 of the 2003 wheat harvest. 
Farm trucks and semi-trailers crowd the highways and gravel roads 
bringing Kansas's most celebrated crop from the fields to the grain 
bins and local elevators.
  After a few days of rain, harvest is now in full throttle in the 
southern half of the largest wheat producing State. And with just under 
20 percent of the harvest in, there is some good news to report. The 
yields are good and the landscape is of golden waves of grain, a 
welcomed change from the scenery of a year ago.
  Two thousand and two was one of the worst years that farmers in 
Kansas ever faced. Because of severe drought wheat yields were poor, 
many families had net incomes of zero and farm equities plunged, the 
trickle down effect of the hard hit causing cash-flow problems for 
rural businesses and closing down stores on main streets in many small 
towns across our State.
  But after consecutive years of natural disaster, Kansans can finally 
be cautiously optimistic this year. The harvest reports from producers 
are more positive and even a little upbeat this year, and the cause for 
that improvement can best be described in one word, rain. Thanks to the 
spring rains, many producers are getting their first wheat crop in 3 to 
4 years. By the time this harvest is completed the first part of July 
almost 10 million acres of wheat will have been cut, the largest 
acreage harvested in our State in the last 5 years.
  Behind the numbers of wheat harvest, bushels per acre, test weights, 
yields, are stories of real people who make farming their way of life. 
Harvest is a family affair. Although the methods of harvest are 
constantly changing thanks to new technology, the work ethic passed 
down from generation to generation still exists. Fathers, sons, 
grandfathers, brothers work side by side from dawn to sunset. A story 
in yesterday's Salina Journal paints the typical picture in a profile 
of the Anderson family from McPherson County. Wheat producer Tim 
Anderson is on the combine harvesting a field near Roxbury, Kansas. His 
father, Bill Anderson, is on another combine, and the third is manned 
by Tim's son Scott, age 17. Younger son Shawn is in a tractor nearby 
pulling the grain cart. Meanwhile Tim's wife, Renee, arrives in the 
field in a farm truck bringing lunch to the family. Harvest is a team 
effort.
  In addition to being a family affair, the annual wheat harvest is a 
trademark claimed by our entire State, and we have been growing wheat 
there in Kansas since before Kansas became known as ``The Wheat 
State.'' Kansas's farmers produce more wheat than any other State, 20 
percent of the Nation's total production, and Kansas ranks first in our 
Nation in flour milling, wheat gluten production and wheat stored. 
Kansas really is the ``Breadbasket of the World.''
  Wheat harvest is a tradition, a legacy, and our livelihood, and as 
goes the wheat crop, so goes the Kansas economy. A good wheat harvest 
is the leading contributor to our State's revenue, about $1 billion 
annually.
  So Mr. Speaker, as the combines roll northward and the harvest 
continues, it is good for all of us to take a few moments to recognize 
the lessons of the wheat field, to remember that there is satisfaction 
in making the right decisions and putting in the hard work to produce a 
bumper crop but ultimately mother nature has the final say in whether 
or not the yield is bountiful. That cautious optimism is the hallmark 
of every farmer who puts the seed in the ground hoping for a good 
harvest months later, and there are few things in life more rewarding 
than working with family side by side to complete the job of the wheat 
harvest. Wheat harvest is important to the Kansas economy but even more 
important as a way of life.
  Kansans have been saying their prayers throughout the years of 
drought for rain and snowfall. Those prayers have been answered. Now we 
pray for abundant crops, good prices, and a safe harvest. Once again 
the old hymn reminds us: God our Maker doth provide.

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