-VOICES FROM THE LAND: DEFINING PRINCIPLES FOR THE 1995
FARM BILL THAT BENEFIT AMERICAUS FARMERS
-ESTABLISHING A LIVING WAGE IN AMERICAUS HEARTLAND
-CREATING FARMER-BASED MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
-CREATING STEWARDSHIP INCENTIVES
-FOSTERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FAMILY FARMERS
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VOICES FROM THE LAND: DEFINING PRINCIPLES FOR THE 1995 FARM
BILL THAT BENEFIT AMERICAUS FARMERS
It is ironic that the voices of our nation's food growers have been lost
in the federal debate over food and farm policy. Yet that is precisely
what is occurring as fierce negotiation in Washington D.C. over
budgets, taxes and subsidies takes center stage over issues critical to
the survival of family farmers.
Regardless of what budget parameters, tax regulations or subsidy
programs Congress decides on this year, several principles must
guide the 1995 Farm Bill to ensure the survival of family farms and
the creation of a sustainable food system. They are: enhanced net
farm income; strengthened rural and farm economies; increased
stewardship incentives; and opportunities for new and beginning
farmers.
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ESTABLISHING A LIVING WAGE IN AMERICAUS HEARTLAND
Family farmers earn less than the minimum wage for supplying the
nation with its daily food stock. According to the USDA, farmers
earned on average $4,750 in farm income last year -- thatUs
equivalent to a full-time worker earning $2.28 per hour without
health care or vacation benefits. As a result, families are leaving
their farms at the rate of 600 per week because they canUt afford to
remain in business.
Federal farm policies that artificially reduce the prices farmers
receive for their crops must be eliminated. Most family farm
organizations favor farm legislation that replaces direct income from
the government with genuine income opportunities from the
marketplace.
"There's enough work on the farm to keep a husband, wife and child
busy, but they just aren't able to earn enough income at the farmgate
to support their business," says farmer Dixie Hendricks, who works
with Dakota Rural Action while operating a diversified grain and
livestock farm with her family. "That's why we are losing family
farmers and that's why Congress needs to establish a living wage for
farmers in the upcoming farm bill."
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CREATING FARMER-BASED MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES
Family farmers have reached out to urban consumers for generations
by selling vegetables, fruits and herbs through roadstands, farmersU
markets and Community Supported Agriculture efforts. These family
farmers are able to respond directly to local consumer demand and
to inform shoppers of the freshness and quality of the food for sale.
By selling directly to consumers, farmers are also able to provide
food at competitive, often less expensive, prices, while covering their
costs of production.
Unlike fruit and vegetable growers, however, family farmers who
produce grains are unable to market their crops to consumers in raw
form. Nor are they able to take the financial risks associated with
processing and marketing these crops for sale.
Wendy Landa, who coordinates a direct marketing pork and
vegetable program for the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, called
Patchwork Farms, said it took the organization almost one year to
recruit a local pork processor, obtain certification from the USDA,
develop a USDA-approved product label, and to establish local
markets for their products. RIf grain growers took the same
approach that we did, they could recuperate some of the profits they
are currently losing at the market by taking over the product
development,S Landa said. RHowever, they would require access to
substantial amounts of capital in order to purchase or rent processing
equipment, and to cover certification fees and other start-up costs.
Not too many farmers can afford to do this on their own.S
All of AmericaUs family farmers need opportunities to directly supply
consumers with their best production at competitive prices. The
federal government has made raw materials cheap for food
processors, now it's time to make the processing affordable to family
farmers who are working to build strong rural economies.
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CREATING STEWARDSHIP INCENTIVES
Conservation and preservation of the nationUs soil, prairies, wetlands
and wildlife is critical to long-term food production. Family farmers,
those producers who live on the land they farm and who have
developed an intimate knowledge of its ecosystem, are in a unique
position to foster conservation throughout the rural landscape.
RSmall and mid-sized family farms are in touch with the land and its
ecosystem processes," says Jennifer Rupprecht, a member of the
Land Stewardship Project. RWe are able to identify trouble spots,
such as erosion, early on, while monitoring water flow, plant growth
and pest developments daily.S Rupprecht and her family have
converted their 250 acre Minnesota corn farm to a sustainable beef,
corn and pasture operation over the last eight years.
Federal farm policy, however, discourages environmental
stewardship among our nationUs farmers. Farmers participating in
federal farm programs are forced by price and planting restrictions
to ignore the natural rhythms of the land. Many producers must
plant their crops fence-row to fence-row in order to squeeze as
many bushels as possible from each farm acre and hence to preserve
their federal program payments and farm income.
Federal farm policies must make a commitment to the conservation
of natural resources by implementing environmentally friendly
policies that restore family farmers to the land and allow them to
utilize their caretaking skills.
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FOSTERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FAMILY FARMERS
Rural youth are discouraged from entering farming. They have
watched their parents, cousins and neighbors struggle to earn a
living on the farm. TheyUve also witnessed the deterioration of their
local schools, health care centers, libraries and main street businesses
through years of prolonged farm crisis and discriminatory farm
policy.
Marty Kleinschmit, a farmer with the Center for Rural AffairsU
Beginning Farmer Sustainable Agriculture Project says Rthe problem
is, that they canUt make it just by farming. Beginning farmers, like
existing producers, have to work off-farm jobs to pay for their farm
and household supplies."
The problem is particularly acute among African American family
farmers. Ralph Paige, Director of the Federation of Southern
Cooperatives which works to restore African American producers to
their land, says that the biggest obstacle preventing African
Americans from entering farming is credit access. "Lack of access to
federal and private credit pushes existing farmers out of business
and deters young African Americans from entering into production
-- that's why we hve only 187 African American farmers under the
age of 37 in the United States."
Time is running out. The average age of U.S. farmers is 52 according
to the 1993 Census of Agriculture. In African American
communities, this number is even more alarming. The average age
of the 23,000 black farmers operating in the United States is 58
years.
The country needs to act quickly to rebuild AmericaUs rural
communities and to preserve the future stock of family farmers and
hence, the future of our food supply. Programs that encourage new
and beginning farmers to enter the fields must be developed at the
federal level.
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We welcome comments and suggestions: contact Harry Smith at
FARM AID, (617) 354-2922. We encourage the reproduction of
FARM AID NEWS. Produced by The Institute for Agriculture and
Trade Policy (IATP) for FARM AID. Editors: Gigi DiGiacomo and
Harry Smith. For information on other agriculture bulletins, contact
IATP: (612) 379-5980.
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