Jerry Moran: “for the last 68 days, I have joined my House colleagues, 11 of them, to work on resolving differences in a farm bill…”

“for the last 68 days, I have joined my House colleagues, 11 of them, to work on resolving differences in a farm bill between a bill we passed last summer and a bill passed a few months ago by the United States Senate. During those 68 days, I have come to greatly admire and respect the leadership in our Committee on Agriculture, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Combest), our chairman, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), our ranking member. But why have we made this effort? Why does it matter? I think the answer is because we care about the future of our farmers and our ranchers, and we care about the future of the communities in which they live. There is absolutely no doubt but that the times in agriculture country are tough. They are not getting better, they are getting worse. The profit margins are squeezed. Last month, I conducted 66 town hall meetings from A to Z, Almena to Zurich. Record low prices for weather conditions paint a terribly bleak picture for our farm families. This week's headlines in the Kansas press: "High Input Costs, Lower Livestock Income Cut Kansas Farm Income 28.6 Percent"; "Bankers Indicate That Farm-Related Businesses Continue To Struggle"; and "Falling Prices Mean Big Losses for Cattle Feeders." The average farm income for a Kansas farmer totaled less than $28,000 per farm. Total farm expenses increased 7 percent. The average debt for a farmer increased 34 percent.”