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policies and programs that would make farming prosperous in an 

 intensely competitive marketplace. 



These first four years of the 1990s seem to follow a similar 

 path to the 1980s. Aggregate farm income has stabilized and 

 grown. There are fewer bankruptcies in the farming community, 

 although many of the businesses which buy from and sell to 

 farmers still continue to struggle. For them, the 

 agricultural crisis of the 1980s persists. 



Most American farm goods once again are trading competitively 

 in world markets but many in striking new forms. No longer 

 are bulk grains and oilseeds bringing in the majority of 

 export returns; higher value products — meats, prepared 

 foods, and other goods — have moved to the top of the list in 

 both growth potential and financial prospects. 



Higher-value exports have helped explain the phenomenal growth 

 that has occurred in domestic consumption -- a growth so 

 strong that imports have been called on when domestic supplies 

 fell short. Higher-value exports mean that Americans are 

 transforming basic agricultural commodities into desirable 

 products that the world wants to buy. Since processing 

 industries are often located in or adjacent to production 

 areas, the people who are adding value are people who live on 

 farms themselves, or they are their neighbors. 



The rapid growth in value-added exports is a noteworthy trend. 

 In particular, U.S. sales of high-value animal products has 

 more than tripled in the past 10 years, allowing the United 

 States to pick up larger shares in a growing world market. 



The trend in bulk exports also is noteworthy for the contrast 

 it poses to high value sales. There too, the world market has 

 grown at a healthy pace, but the United States has not 

 participated in that growth. In the fast growing oilseeds and 

 products markets, U.S. exports have exhibited a declining 

 trend in market share since about 1980. In feed grains, the 

 trend has been down since 1989. Export sales of wheat also 

 have been lackluster and market share has been on a declining 

 path since the beginning of the decade. 



Some of the reasons for poor U.S. export performance have been 

 beyond control of farmers, exporters or policymakers 

 several weather shocks, the collapse of demand in Eastern 

 Europe and the former Soviet Union and trade rules too weak to 

 discipline unfair competition. But some of the problem has 

 been policy driven — excessive reliance on supply controls, 

 misguided export policies and inattention to effective market 

 development. 



