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The economic outlook will vary greatly between producers 

 depending on their individual circumstances, (land costs, the 

 commodity that they happen to produce etc) . 



I want to be clear that I am not comparing the efficiency or 

 inefficiency between producers, I am referring to efficient 

 producers who are involved in different circumstances or different 

 types of commodity production. 



Mr. Chairman, I would like to use a specific example of our family 

 farm in South Dakota, which is operated by my twin brothers. I 

 believe that the economic circumstances, while they differ in 

 numbers, are illustrative of the challenges many farms throughout 

 the U.S. are facing today. 



The farm consists of approximately 2,000 acres and produces beef, 

 hogs, row crops and small grain. The farm is carrying a debt to 

 asset ratio on the land of 55 to 60%. I also want to point out 

 that land costs for their cash rented land is not much different 

 than land they own with this debt ratio. 



The cost of production for wheat, which is the major cash crop, is 

 approximately $3.50 per bushel; 40% of that cost is land cost 

 (interest, taxes, etc.). The 1992 wheat crop was very good, 

 however, because protein is down this year, the average market 

 price is 3.25 to 3.30 per bushel. The ASCS wheat yield for 



