Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
Laws of Minnesota 1987 RESOLUTION 1-S.F.No. 95 A resolution memorializing Congress to immediately adopt the "Save the Family Farm Act" or similar legislation to meet the catastrophe striking American farmers and the farm economy. WHEREAS, 650,000 farmers have been forced out of business in the past six years; and WHEREAS, 95,000 main street businesses including 2,000 farm implement dealers have closed their doors since 1981; and WHEREAS, 55,000 farm implement manufacturing workers have been permanently laid off in the past 5 years; and WHEREAS, 403 banks, primarily rural banks, have been closed since 1981; and WHEREAS, farm prices have fallen to their lowest level in 15 years and farm exports have dropped by almost 40 percent falling from $44 billion in 1980 to $26 billion in 1986; and WHEREAS, taxpayers' costs for farm programs have increased five fold from $6 billion during the 1970's to over $30 billion in 1986; and WHEREAS, farm assets, primarily land, have fallen $250 billion in the last five years, an average loss of $139,000 for every U.S. farmer. In 1981, farm assets exceeded the $1 trillion national debt while today's $2 trillion national debt is two and one-half times the value of farm assets; and WHEREAS, current programs have idled 50 percent of U.S. farm land in 1983 and 35 percent in 1987 while encouraging production in other years thus creating havoc for agribusinesses; and WHEREAS, consumer prices have continued to increase despite dramatic drops in farm prices; and WHEREAS, more than 10,000 Minnesota farms have been permanently wiped out in the past four years according to the United States Department of Agriculture; and WHEREAS, at least one-third of Minnesota's remaining farmers are suffering severe financial stress; and WHEREAS, a fair price for farmers is the only real true solution for agriculture, Minnesota's largest industry; and WHEREAS, a fair price for Minnesota's farmers would bring at least $1 billion of new income into Minnesota since much of Minnesota's farm production is sold out of the state and out of the country; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that Congress should immediately pass the "Save the Family Farm Act," or similar legislation that will restore profitability to agriculture by paying farmers a fair price for their product, save taxpayers over $20 billion per year by eliminating all government subsidies, and will maintain export markets through the use of bonus bushels. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Minnesota Secretary of State transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the United States Senate, the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture of the United States House of Representatives, and the Minnesota Representatives and Senators in Congress. Approved February 4, 1987
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes