The House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a hearing recently to review the state of the farm economy. Congressman Leonard Boswell is Chairman of the Subcommittee.
The committee heard testimony from two panels of witnesses about the current state of the farm economy, examining both short- and long-term trends in prices, input costs, land value and farm output. The committee also discussed broader macroeconomic factors that influence agricultural and energy markets. The hearing was held a day after the Agriculture Department’s release of the results of its survey of farmers’ planting intentions for 2009 as well as its quarterly grain stocks report.
“With one in five jobs in Iowa tied to the agricultural industry a strong farm economy is vital to rural America,” Chairman Boswell said. “Often times our farmers and ranchers are overlooked in an economic crisis. In recent years agriculture has seen some of the most volatile times in our history. In order to continue to provide American citizens with the most safe, plentiful, and most affordable food supply in the world we must have stable and reliable farm economy.”
The opening statements of all witnesses are available on the Committee website: http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html. A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a later date.