115 



American businesses that are willing to make a long-term commit- 

 ment to reform in their country. 



The issue regarding grain exports or be it dairy products, grain, 

 whatever the commodity is, and how that is handled in Russia is 

 a major issue. It is a major issue in Russia. It is also a major issue 

 for Land O'Lakes members here. And I would have to say that we. 

 Land O'Lakes, has overcome a major stumbling block or an obsta- 

 cle to increased international development efforts by convincing our 

 Land O'Lakes members who grow wheat that unless they are out 

 there working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Russians and taking 

 an equity position in the future of private farming in Russia, that 

 indeed Russia will compete with them. 



We do have specific models that are contained in my testimony 

 and documents to the United States Agency for International De- 

 velopment and the United States Department of Agriculture that 

 specifically address the monetization of surplus commodities from 

 this country to Russia. As an individual who used to work for U.S. 

 AID and was responsible for the Bellman determinations, I am 

 very cognizant of the issues that surround them. 



And the programs that we have put forward out in Russia ad- 

 dress those issues. We believe that providing assistance, be it 

 through technical assistance, training, surplus commodity mod- 

 ernization programs, that it can be a win/win situation for Amer- 

 ican farmers and American agricultural business, as well as the 

 Russian farmers in the establishment and support of fledgling pri- 

 vate agricultural business entities. 



Again, I would like to thank you for the invitation to present to 

 your subcommittee here and I will wait for questions. 



[The prepared statement of Ms. Cashman appears at the conclu- 

 sion of the hearing.] 



Mr. Penny. Thank you. 



Dr. Johnson. 



STATEMENT OF STANLEY R. JOHNSON, DIRECTOR, CENTER 

 FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, IOWA 

 STATE UNIVERSITY, AMES, lA 



Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and other committee 

 members for the opportunity to talk with you about our experiences 

 in Russia. I was asked to speak in particular about the agricultural 

 business centers that we are operating there and I will do that. I 

 prepared material on the agribusiness centers which I would ask 

 to be included in the record. 



My comments will be in three areas, the first of these are not 

 contained in my statement but are motivated by your questions of 

 Mr. Evans and the others earlier, and I just wanted to add one or 

 two specifics that will, I believe, help to give some perspective for 

 the situation that people in agriculture find themselves in Russia 

 and the other Republics of the former Soviet Union. 



One of the things that wasn't mentioned is that there has been 

 a radical change in the relative prices of foods in these nations. For 

 example, in 1989, the Russian population was consuming over 70 

 kilograms, that is about 150 pounds of meat per capita. That is the 

 same amount that is consumed by the Western European popu- 

 lation. It is very likely that this consumption level will drop signifi- 



