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Rep. John Kline listens to ag issues at committee event Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Agri News staff writer
FARIBAULT, Minn. -- Pork producers have lost 70 percent of their equity and if they shut down, they won't start again, Dan Perkins told Rep. John Kline at an agriculture advisory committee meeting Aug. 20 in Faribault.
Perkins, a farm business management instructor from Morris, was one of several people who spoke during an hour-long roundtable meeting where Kline tried hard to listen and not speak.
He facilitated the discussion, telling one part of the room or another that they were too quiet, but for the most part the discussion bounced from person-to-person, with several topics discussed.
Lack of leadership in agriculture, imports, exports, regulations for selling dairy products to the government, Section 32 funds and packer and corporate ownership of livestock were among the topics covered.
The meeting was the first advisory committee meeting in about a year, said Kline, a Republican who represents Minnesota's 2nd District. Meetings were held more frequently leading up to the farm bill, he said.
The advisory committee was enlarged for this meeting to hear from more dairy producers, Kline said. Not only were the chairs lining the four tables arranged so everyone faced each other full, chairs were brought in to accommodate more people.
"I felt like I needed to hear from a lot of people," Kline said.
The great thing about the meeting was that he heard what's going on in the field, Kline said.
"There was a lot of food for thought here," he said.
Kline plans to begin acting on some of the concerns raised before the August recess is over, starting with talking to his colleagues on the agriculture committee.
The agriculture financial problems are part of a much bigger problem, but there are issues unique to agriculture, he said. Pork producers, for instance, had their legs kicked out from under them when the H1N1 flu was labeled swine flu. One producer told Kline the United States has lost export markets in 16 countries because the H1N1 flu was labeled swine flu.
The pork producers plight is unique and may require unique assistance, Kline said.
Farmers are in the position where they can't instantly liquidate, he said. One panelist told Kline that hog slaughter facilities have reduced their hours and are backing hogs up in barns because they don't want to fill their freezers.
Another, John O'Loughlin, told Kline that the price support increase for dairy products won't trickle down to farmers.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack raised those prices on his own, Kline said, but he's going to start asking questions about why the money isn't getting to producers.
Kline said he hadn't heard of any effort to propose supply management for dairy, but he said he'd look into that.
The advisory committee included folks from outside Kline's district, but who represented a part of Minnesota agriculture. Kline said he doesn't have a single sugar beet in his district, but sugar beets are an important part of the state's agriculture economy.
Douglas Etten, who represented the state's sugar beet industry, said the sugar portion of the farm bill is working well, but he raised concerns about cap and trade legislation. He's afraid the requirements would put the state's sugar processors out of business.
"I think that cap and trade bill is just a killer," Kline said. In his opinion, it will drive up costs for natural gas, electricity and diesel fuel and anything made using those products.
"That fight is far from over," Kline said.
Stephanie Henriksen, Minnesota Farmers Union Rice County president, raised the health care issue.
Kline asked that health care not be discussed at the agriculture advisory committee meeting because it would trump all other concerns. He said Congress needs to throw out the bills now circulating and start over to write a bipartisan bill.
"Let's come together and see if we can't move this forward," Kline said. "There are things we can agree on." |
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