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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release December 3, 2007 |
CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630 |
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| Sen. Salazar Continues Push to Pass Farm Bill Before Year’s End WASHINGTON, DC –In a continued effort to complete the 2007 Farm Bill by the end of the year, United States Senator Ken Salazar made the following statement on the floor of the United States Senate today highlighting the benefits of the Farm Bill to Colorado, and appealing to his colleagues to pass the bill before year’s end. “A lot of folks in this country are looking to us to pass a Farm Bill. This is a bill that helps the 50 million Americans living in rural communities; it helps kids who deserve fresh fruits and vegetables at lunch; it helps families put healthy and safe food on their table; and it helps us reduce our dependence on foreign oil and build a clean energy economy for the 21st century. “A few days ago, I was in the San Luis Valley with my family on our ranch. Our land, which we have ranched for five generations, is a few miles north of the New Mexico-Colorado border in a county that reflects many of the challenges that are facing Rural America. Almost a quarter of the residents of my home county of Conejos live below the poverty line, with a median household income is around $27,000 a year. In the neighboring county, Costilla County, household income is about half the median in the United States. “The fact is: rural communities across the country are struggling. Median income in rural counties nationwide is around $11,000 lower than the national media. Jobs are disappearing and the population is dwindling. “Just look at this map of population growth in the United States. This shows the rural counties in the country. Of the 1,729 rural counties in the country, 865 lost population between 2000 and 2005. You can see them here in red. And many others – those in yellow – had population growth below the national average. If you visit these counties in red, you’ll find schools with declining enrollments, hospitals and health clinics that are closing down, and stores on Main Street that are getting boarded up. “Here’s a picture of downtown Brush, Colorado, out on the eastern plains. Sadly, this is a scene that is all too common in small towns in this country. And when these businesses - the tractor dealerships, the hardware stores, the feed stores - are closing, you know that it is a sign that farmers and ranchers are struggling. That has certainly been the case in recent years in Colorado. We have had a severe drought for eight years that we’re only now pulling out of. In 2002, we lost 30% of our wheat on account of the drought. The acres that were harvested had an average yield of 23 bushels/acre - not enough to cover operating and overhead costs. In 2004 it happened again, and we lost 600,000 acres. And then, in 2006, our wheat losses amounted to around $95 million. $95 million. “But it wasn’t just wheat, it was corn, too. Here is what our corn looked like last year out in Washington County. It was parched. Over the last few weeks, I have heard some of my colleagues paint a rosy picture of our rural economies. Corn, soy, and wheat prices are up, they argue, and therefore farmers are doing very well. They use this as grounds for attacking and blocking the bill that is before us. But it’s no secret that the commodity prices in the business section aren’t a very good indication of how farmers and ranchers are actually doing. If corn prices are up, that doesn’t necessarily mean that farms and ranches in Baca County or Yuma County, Colorado are doing that much better. I can tell you that the cattle business, for one, gets a whole lot more difficult when feed prices are high. “And where has Washington been, while our farmers and ranchers have been fighting to stay afloat? For years, Washington has turned a blind eye to the problems in Rural America. It is a neglect that is surfacing yet again among those who are holding this bill up. This neglect is particularly disheartening when you know just how much possibility and promise our rural communities hold. With modest investments, Rural America can be the engine of our clean energy economy, fueling an alternative energy revolution that capitalizes on the hard work, productivity, and entrepreneurship of our farmers and ranchers. It can continue to provide us safe, healthy food, and it can continue to protect millions of acres of land and waterways that we value. “This is a picture that shows the Farm Bill at work, helping protect our land and water while helping keep our farmers the most productive in the world. These are some of our farmers from the Saint Vrain and Boulder Creek watersheds learning some new practices that reduce tillage and increase yields. “The field day was part of a 3-year EQIP Conservation Innovation Grant that was done in partnership with the local conservation district, local farmers, seed companies, and farm equipment dealers. At the end of the day, these farmers went home with new ways to boost their bottom line while reducing erosion. “The Farm Bill has an enormous impact on this Nation’s land and water. Non-federal agricultural and forest lands occupy 1.4 billion acres – or nearly 70% of lands in the lower 48 states. Seven out of ten acres in the contiguous United States are affected by the Farm Bill. These lands provide the habitat and corridors that support healthy wildlife populations, filter groundwater supplies, regulate surface water flows, sequester carbon, and provide the open space and vistas that we all love. As I learned growing up on our ranch in southern Colorado, farmers and ranchers are some our best stewards of these resources. They want to take care of their land, and do what is right for the protection of our environment. “Our farmers also want to be a part of our clean energy future. This is a picture of an ethanol plant in Sterling, Colorado, which produces around 42 million gallons of fuel a year. This is one of three plants in our state that together produce around 90 million gallons a year. A fourth has just come on line, which will add another 50 million gallons a year. “Here is another example of how our farmers are helping lead this clean energy revolution. This is one of our wind farms in Prowers County. Thanks to an amendment we passed in Colorado in 2004, by the end of the year we will have added more than 800 megawatts of wind power in just three years, more than quadrupling the state’s production of wind power to more than 1,000 megawatts. “We planted the seeds for these types of clean energy projects in the 2005 Energy Policy Act and in the energy bill we passed earlier this year. The 2007 Farm Bill, though, takes the next step, helping farmers and ranchers deploy the renewable energy technologies that have been developed at places like the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado. “With the $1.3 billion that this bill devotes to energy programs, farmers will be able to apply for grants to develop bio-refineries and to improve the handling, harvest, transport and storage of feedstocks for biofuels. The bill includes tax credits for small-wind turbines and cellulosic biofuel production. And it stimulates research into the methods and technologies that will allow the most productive lands in the world to provide more and more of our energy. “Reducing our dependence on foreign oil will be the central national security, environmental security, and economic security challenge of the coming decades. It is also a tremendous opportunity. The country that successfully replaces its imports of foreign oil with clean, home-grown energy will reap competitive and technological advantages that will keep it out front in the world for decades to come. “We can all play a part in this new economy, but the productivity and ingenuity of Rural America is our greatest untapped resource in our quest to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I am excited that this bill – with its investments in rural development, energy technology, and wise stewardship – taps this resource, while strengthening our ability to produce clean, safe, and affordable food. “That is why it is all the more frustrating that Members in this chamber are blocking progress on the Farm Bill. This does a disservice to our farmers and ranchers, to kids who should be getting fresh fruits and vegetables at lunch, and to all those who dream of a clean energy future for our country. It is time to put the interests of Rural America before the politics of obstructionism. I urge my colleagues to allow us to get down to business and pass this Farm Bill.”
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