Family farm policy change is offered

Editor,

Can we bring about a change of direction in Farm Policy — offering the Family Farmer a way to operate his farm that would give some protection from the particular risks of farming? A good question came from our own FFO correspondent, "How long would you be able to work, if your income was less than it cost you to do the work?"

Why should we as a nation have let six million farmers lose their farm homes subsidizing the public with cheap food while American Industry and banking enjoyed profits of 20-50 percent; "The Deliberate Debauchery of Agriculture," as clearly stated in 1962 by Banker Vince Rossiter, Sr. of Harrington, Neb.

What would it be worth to each of our citizens to have Family Farmers widespread in communities throughout Rural America? With a safety-net to cover the costs to produce his share of the food the public eats, the farmer would have the option to get back to owning and living on the land again.

Using a formula that treats the commodity fairly between producers, Ron de Yong, lecturer on Agricultural Policy and Economics at California Polytechnic State University, explained: "The solution to providing an adequate safety net is to adopt a policy that treats production used domestically different than production that is exported …" This program would maintain family farms in their ownership position, and bring revival to rural economic and social infrastructure.

Please look up the FFO Web Page: www.midrivers.com/~ffo, and contact your state and your national representatives on this critical situation throughout our country!

Al P. Schmitz, President

FFO, Inc.

Sidney