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(AAM 03 FEB 93 page #3) 



f 



real dollars. We were told in the early 1980s that the 

 reduction in prices paid to farmers would be made up by- 

 Federal Treasury dollars in the form of deficiency payments, 

 but those payments have been severely eroded by federal 

 budget pressures. In the meantime, that low price export 

 driven policy has driven as many as 800,000 farmers from the 

 land in the last decade. Those who are left have been forced 

 to use all available capital reserves and mortgage their 

 futures in order to survive financially. 



When natural disasters have come along, and they have with 

 brutal frequency, there is nothing left in the rain day 

 accounts to cover the short falls. This committee has been 

 very helpful in obtaining federal disaster aid in those 

 situations, but now we are experiencing appropriations for 

 one season being spread and pro- rated over two and three 

 seasons. This another example of not enough taxpayer money 

 available to support farm income. 



Low prices and disaster are not the only problems facing 

 todays agriculture balance sheet. Farmers and ranchers have 

 experienced higher property and excise taxes, skyrocketing 

 health care costs, increases in equipment maintenance 

 expenses, etc. In addition, the recession has not been kind 

 to rural America. The recession has resulted in lower demand 

 for many of our products. The recession has also affected 

 the off-farm jobs farmers and their families have been forced 



