Q: Where on Earth can consumers earn enough to pay for a year’s worth of food in just 36 days?
A: According to an annual analysis compiled by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average American family in 2004 earns enough to pay for a year’s worth of food in just 36 days. That’s a bargain unmatched around the world. Consider in 1970, families worked two weeks longer to reach this benchmark of high quality, affordable nutrition. Today U.S. consumers spend on average 10 percent of disposable income to feed their families. As the only working family farmer in the U.S. Senate, I make it my business to educate urban-oriented lawmakers in Congress about America’s efficient food producers and farm families whose labors fill America’s pantry with the most affordable, high quality, abundant supply of food available in the world. Yet, the earning power of America’s farmers has dropped by a dime in the last 20 years, with less than 20 cents of each food dollar spent reaching the farmers’ pockets.
Q: What policy issues are you advancing this year to benefit the family farmer?
A: From my committee assignments in the U.S. Senate, I will continue to champion legislative and oversight advocacy on behalf of American agriculture and rural America. This includes my long-standing efforts to reduce the tax burden on family farmers, curb unfair trade barriers such as Mexico’s tax on soft drinks containing high fructose corn syrup, expand market access for U.S. farm commodities, promote value-added agriculture and homegrown renewable energy, make permanent Chapter 12 bankruptcy protection, police regulatory enforcement of anti-competitive practices, strengthen anti-trust protections for livestock producers, clamp down on sky-high federal farm payments to mega-producers, push for swift implementation of the federal country-of-origin labeling law, and monitor our food safety regulatory regime including enhanced safeguards to protect integrity of U.S. beef supply. Iowa takes pride in a long heritage of family-owned and -operated farms. The USDA released in February its 2002 Census of Agriculture, which by law is updated every five years. The preliminary report shows Iowa has more than 90,000 farms covering nearly 32 millions acres of land. Of those, close to 79,000 (87 percent) are family or individually owned. The average farm size is 350 acres and the average age of the principal operator is 54 years. From my policymaking position in the U.S. Senate, I’m doing what I can to encourage and enable new generations of family farmers to prosper and carry on Iowa’s agricultural heritage in the 21st century.