Kent Conrad: “I know agriculture is not a dominant industry in New Hampshire but it is dominant in many States in the Nation. For…”

“I know agriculture is not a dominant industry in New Hampshire but it is dominant in many States in the Nation. For those who represent farmers, we can report to our colleague there is a desperate crisis across farm country. This is about as serious a situation as I have ever seen. When our colleague says farm prices are rising, he is talking about a projection into the future by the Congressional Budget Office, the very same people who said prices would be rising now, when prices have plummeted. Their record on forecasting farm prices is not very good. It is another indication of why there is great danger in banking on any 10-year forecast. That is what the Senator from New Hampshire was showing, a 10-year forecast for farm prices by people who in the past haven't been able to forecast farm prices worth a hoot and a holler. The red line on this chart is the prices farmers receive. The distribution of this line is quite clear. It is almost straight down. The green line is the prices farmers pay for their input. It is going up, up, up. It is the relationship between the prices farmers pay and what they are paid that has created this farm crisis.”