Rod Grams: “a good deal has been said about the terrible devastation in Minnesota in the Red River Valley and along the Minnesota…”

“a good deal has been said about the terrible devastation in Minnesota in the Red River Valley and along the Minnesota River. When we visualize the disaster, we picture communities like Ada, Granite Falls, East Grand Forks, Montevideo, Breckenridge, Moorhead, and Warren submerged in river water. I have seen most of these communities first hand and have at once anguished over their loss and admired them for their courage. We tend to overlook some other folks in Minnesota who were equally devastated by the terrible floods that came so soon on the heels of a very long and blistering cold winter. We tend to overlook the same folks who, year-in and year-out, are charged with an enormous responsibility: feeding the world. It is estimated that over 3 million acres of prime farmland were under water at the height of the flooding. These are the same acres that Minnesota farmers use to produce much of the world's supply of potatoes, wheat, sugar, barley, corn, and soybeans. In short, without any exaggeration, this disaster upset the bread basket of the world. But, I am inexpressibly proud to report to my colleagues that it takes more than 'hell and high water,' as the Grand Forks Herald put it, to keep Minnesota's farmers down.”