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your district, from Watonwan, Minnesota. There are many 

 Cashmans, in fact we were debating that there were probably more 

 Cashmans per square inch and still counting in southern Min- 

 nesota than perhaps anywhere else in the United States, short of — 

 well, actually outside of Cork, Ireland. 



At any rate, my testimony covers three subjects. First, some gen- 

 eral backgroimd on Land O'Lakes and its international programs, 

 second, our involvement in supporting private Russian agriculture, 

 and third, observations and recommendations to the United States 

 assistance programs to Russia. I would like to enter my written 

 testimony in the record and then just talk a little bit about — sum- 

 marizing my testimony and also making some comments based on 

 the previous testimonies. 



Land O'Lakes is very fortunate to have been involved in Russia 

 for the last 6 years. We were with Dr. Bosmasnokov at the estab- 

 lishment of the AKKOR private farmers' association 2 years ago, 

 and Land O'Lakes actually got started in — actually in 1989 and it 

 was specifically at the request of President Yeltsin. During the Au- 

 gust coup. President Yeltsin, when he stood atop the Bryansk and 

 was tallang about reform in Russian agriculture, used the Land 

 O'Lakes program or efforts as the centerpiece for agrarian reform 

 and reform of the state cooperative movements. 



So we have been working out there for a number of years, long 

 before Russia was the place to be and the thing to be doing. We 

 have been working on issues of civic participation based on the 

 grassroots organization of cooperatives and using that as the basis 

 of a civic society that is involved in governance and business is- 

 sues. 



I listened to Cooper Evans talking about the model farm concept, 

 and I would have to agree with his concept that the historical 

 model farms that have been used in Russia only tend to highlight 

 the disparities between Russian agriculture today and Western ag- 

 riculture. And I think that the model farm consent is something 

 that really needs to be examined and rethought. 



The Land O'Lakes approach to this whole issue has not been to 

 set up a Land O'Lakes member-type farm in Russia. It has been 

 working with private farmers, the individuals who were considered 

 only a few years ago as dissidents within the agricultural move- 

 ment, and really strengthening their abilities to exist outside the 

 state system. We have been working very much with the private 

 farmers as far as not over capitalizing their farm operations early 

 on, that there are other ways to improve production in the process- 

 ing of their materials. 



We have decided that there really — if you watch the news and 

 so forth, that there is an urban versus rural politics, and what hap- 

 pens in the cities is not at all reflected as to what is really going 

 on in the countryside. There is an intense desire to emulate the 

 American model in agriculture. There is an intense desire to join 

 \vith the United States and really, as the Russians have told me, 

 it is a question of dignity and national pride. 



Russia was once considered a superpower and now they feel like 

 the equivalent of the United States homeless. They are very con- 

 cerned about who their partners are in the future and seek out 



