Kent Conrad: “I rise to support the package of amendments that is before us, because agriculture in my State is in a crisis. I have…”

“I rise to support the package of amendments that is before us, because agriculture in my State is in a crisis. I have previously referred to it as a stealth disaster, because it is flying below the radar screen of much of the national media. Unlike the disasters of last year that were very visual, this is hard to take a picture of, because this is a circumstance where we have collapsing prices and falling production, and the combination of the two is pressing farmers and forcing them into selling out. I draw my colleagues' attention to a May, 1998, front-page Wall Street Journal story that examined the agricultural crisis in the heartland of America. It pointed out very clearly that on the northern plains, the new farm bill is yielding pain and upheaval, and, indeed, it is. They point out that the dramatic drop in wheat prices was already, back in May, creating desperate problems for farmers in my State, but also in the State of the Senator from Minnesota, Senator Wellstone, who just spoke. This is a problem that is now recognized not just in our home areas, but across the country.”