Thursday, July 17, 1997

Glickman announces USDA "Commission on Small Farms"

By J.T. SMITH / Abilene Reporter-News

Farms have gotten larger - and fewer - in a steady trend since the 1930s.

Huge tracts of land can be farmed by titanic tractors nowadays, and the move toward "bigger and bigger" seems to have no end in sight.

U.S. Ag Secretary Dan Glickman announced the formation of his "Commission on Small Farms" Wednesday.

In a teleconference press briefing with the Reporter-News and others, Glickman said USDA isn't out to change the world.

"We just want to see the little guy get a fair shake," Glickman said.

Beyond helping small farmers, themselves, Glickman said the rural population base needs to be given a boost - or at least stabilized - as small towns across America have declined severely.

But how do you keep 'em on - or get them back - to the farm? And can USDA actually change such a decades-old steady decline in numbers?

Among the matters that Glickman wants the new commission to examine is whether USDA past and current policies are helping or actually hurting small farmers.

As recent as the 1950s, there were more than 5 million farms in America. Currently, there are about 2 million farms. (Officially, USDA says only 1.9 million now). And even among those, the mega farms produce most of the goods.

"The average age of a U.S. farmer today is 58," Glickman lamented. "That should concern every American."

First meeting will be in Memphis

Glickman will send the 27-member commission on the road to travel throughout the United States from now until fall.

The first commission meeting will be July 28 in Memphis, Tenn.

Glickman said he wants a report on his desk from the commission by Sept. 30.

The Ag Secretary wants the commission to explore several areas where USDA might help small farmers stay on the farm - or assist young farmers to get started.

A few of them:

-- Research that would benefit small farms.

-- Niche markets for specialty farms.

-- Assistance to help young farmers - like renters - become farm owners.

-- Value-added commodities to help farms.

-- Ways to improve small farm profitability.

Glickman wants the commission to determine if USDA can make a real difference.

"Can the (federal) government really help...or, would we just be paddling upstream?" Glickman said.

Glickman said USDA shouldn't have to shoulder all the effort, but visualizes cooperative programs with state, local, and private entities on this major issue.

The Ag Secretary said that at the very least, stabilizing the loss of farms would be in the farmer's political interest. Fewer farmers mean that the ag sector has even fewer votes.

Glickman already had hinted that he was about to create such a commission when he met in June with leaders of the National Cotton Council.

Among those hardest hit have been dairy farms, Glickman noted.

The past September, the average milk price at the farm was $15.37 per hundredweight. By June this year the price had plummeted to $10.74.

Many dairymen protested in Washington earlier this week - saying the industry was in a crisis.