Two years ago, I had the opportunity to go with my uncle to

America was based on agriculture. The lives of some of the first people here, like Indians and Pilgrims, depended on working the soil. And now we are losing one of our greatest traditions. The U.S. Department of Labor stated,

In 1920, more than 30% of the Illinois population lived on farms. By 1960 the percentage dropped to 7.5. From 1960 to 1990, that percentage shrank to 1.6%, and, in the last ten years, it has fallen below 1%. As Illinois loses farmers, so does all of America. On average, 50 American farmers go out of business every day and 16,000 go out of business every year. It has been calculated that 300,000 farmers went out of business between 1979 and 1998. And in the last 10 years, America lost another 155,000 farms. According to the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, there are only 1.91 million farmers remaining in the U.S. That's the lowest number of farms in the United States since 1850. A major source of pride and income that our country has valued from its infancy is now disappearing in front of our eyes at a remarkable speed.

One of my favorite songs is American Farmer by Charlie Daniels. My favorite line in the song is

So what is causing all of this? One of the biggest factors of the loss of family farms in America is low market prices and high expenses. The market prices now are extremely low. Market prices have dropped every year since the last farm bill was approved. Farmers are getting roughly half of the prices they were receiving in 1996 and it can only get worse without a new farm policy. Currently, these prices are 35

Another contributor to these problems is corporate farms. They are invading America. Listen to these numbers:

Two percent of farms produce 50 percent of agricultural product sales.

Of the remaining hog farms, 2 percent control nearly half of all hog inventory.

79% of all cattle are controlled by just 4 companies.

98% of all poultry is produced by huge corporations.

Four firms control 82 percent of beef packing, 75 percent of hogs and sheep, and half of chickens.

Corporate farms make up only six percent of farmers, but they take 60 percent of all farm receipts.

Can't you see it? The numbers are right in front of you. Corporate farms are taking over America.

Another sometimes overlooked problem is the small number of new farmers. At no other point in the history of U.S. agriculture, have we faced such a wide generational gap in farm participants. Twenty-five percent of all farmers are 65 years of age and older. Nearly half of all farmers are over age 55, while just 8 percent are under age 35. No one wants to come back and farm. Do you blame them? The state agriculture is in right now is pathetic. In 1998, farmers earned an average of only $7,000 per year from their farming operations. Most family farmers must work jobs off the farm just to make ends meet. 88 percent of the average farm operator's household income comes from off-the-farm sources, Who wants to come back to the farm when they can work in town for twice the money and half the labor?

So what can be done? That's what everyone wants to know. A start would be getting the government to stop hurting family farmers and start helping them. We need a farm bill that is good for family farmers. Something far different than the 1996 FAIR Act, or Freedom to Farm Act. It was drawn up with the supposed intention of leveling the playing field by removing public regulations and allowing the market to dictate the farm industry. It eliminated commodity price support programs. Prices plunged in 1997 and farmers had no safety net. Congress passed an emergency aid proposal, and since then the government has paid farmers billions of more

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Now it's time for a new farm bill The House passed their version in October and the Senate passed theirs this month. There are several differences in the two bills. The House bill would spend about $36 billion over five years and the Senate bill would spend $44 billion in five years. The Senate has payment limitations, which would restrict large farms from receiving huge amounts of money from the government, and a ban on meatpackers owning livestock more than two weeks before slaughter. The House bill spends more on a farm safety net than the Senate bill. The House and Senate each have a committee and they are going to come up with a farm bill that everyone can agree with. They plan on meeting and coming up with a bill by Easter, before Congress recesses.

Something that every citizen can do, and should do, is write his or her congressperson. President Eisenhower once said,

I live on a fifth-generation farm. Farming is all we have. Without it, we have nothing. My grandpa, my uncle and my father

Something has to change or we can kiss agriculture goodbye not only on my farm, not only in Illinois, but in America. Something has to be done. It's time for change.

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