Russ Feingold: “Mr. President, the agricultural provisions of this bill are important for all farmers but I am especially proud of the…”

“Mr. President, the agricultural provisions of this bill are important for all farmers but I am especially proud of the provisions targeted to support our endangered small farmers. Mr. President, this country is facing a national farming crisis. Day after day, season after season, we are losing small farms at an alarming rate. In 1980, there were 45,000 dairy farms in Wisconsin. In 1997, there are only 24,000 dairy farms. That is a loss of more than 3 dairy farms a day-everyday for 17 years. And it does not begin to measure the human cost to families driven from the land. As small farms disappear, we are witnessing the emergence of larger agricultural operations. This trend toward fewer but larger dairy operations is mirrored in most States throughout the Nation. Mr. President, the economic losses associated with the reduction in the number of small farms go well beyond the impact on the individual farm families who must wrench themselves from the land.”