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OP-ED: Red Wood Falls Gazette |
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Tuesday, 25 July 2006 |
“It’s a total disaster.” Those were the words of a farmer who stood up in the Daily Grind coffee shop in Alexandria last week describing the effect that the drought was having on area farmers. All around the room there were nods of agreement and the size of the crowd told me he wasn’t the only one feeling squeezed by months with no rain.
Water is the lifeblood of Minnesota’s farmers – without it crops from sugar beets to corn are destroyed. From Barnesville to Long Prairie, you can see the devastating path of the drought on our state’s crops.
The area around Crookston, for example, broke records for the third driest summer in 103 years. That is a record we didn’t need to break. This current drought reaffirms why we need to make disaster relief a permanent part of the farm bill – we need to be preparing for drought before it hits, not after.
It’s about time that the interests of Minnesota’s farmers drive our farm policy.
Just one year ago, members of Congress turned their backs on the 30,000 Minnesotans who work in the sugar industry and supported the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). I think Minnesota’s farmers deserve a better deal than they got in CAFTA and I will work to level the playing field for our farmers in the global market.
It’s time for a change in course in Washington, a new direction on energy and a renewal of the promises made to America’s farmers. The farm bill will come up in 2007 and as your Senator, I pledge to put Minnesota's interests first by seeking a seat on the Senate's Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. I want to make sure farmers can compete on an even playing field, get the fair prices they deserve and expand efforts to invest in incentives for renewable energy and other new technology to fully harvest Minnesota's resources. And I will work for a full extension of the Milk Income Loss Contract program to protect our dairy farmers and keep the promises that were made.
Minnesota’s energy resources like ethanol and wind power are a success story, creating thousands of new jobs and providing an economic boost to our rural communities. We need to make sure that America continues to invest in homegrown fuels with national standards for renewable fuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, biomass - 10% by 2010 and 20% by 2020.
The energy path for America fifty years from now is under construction today. Minnesota’s ethanol plants, are laying the groundwork for the next generation of homegrown energy.
By fighting for fair trade agreements, opening new markets, investing in America’s rural communities and homegrown energy resources we can transform America’s agricultural heartland into a hub for the next generation of energy and trade.
When I think about the challenges we face, I hear the voices and ideas and concerns of Minnesotans that I meet traveling the state. The problems facing our farm families certainly aren't easy to solve, but to get started you have to have the political will to be there, fight the fights, and win them. That's what I've done as the chief prosecutor for Minnesota's largest county, and that's what I'll do in Washington for all of Minnesota.
– Amy Klobuchar
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