Thank you, Mark. State Senator Frank Kloucek to be followed by Minnesota State Representative Ted Winter and then Howard Fleager will be our third speaker.

MR. KLOUCEK:

Yes, Secretary Johnson, Secretary Hugoson, Deputy Secretary Schroeder, Trade Negotiator Teresa Howes, Ambassador Marc Baas, testifiers and guests. I am Frank Kloucek, a third-generation family farmer from Scotland. I also had the honor to be a State Senator from South Dakota. I’m here today as with the rest of the South Dakota delegation and Mr. Fleager, kind of our hand-picked aid team, to try to influence you about the importance of what’s happening in family farm agriculture today, and I’m sure you’re aware of it. I am the prime sponsor of the Mandatory Price Reporting bill in South Dakota and we have gone to the other states and passed in the other states, and also Ted Winter who has been a great inspiration and help and Larry Green, as well. And we have gone to these states and met with thousands of people. We’ve had four rallies in these states, 800 to 1,000 per rally, and spoke to these people and they have spoken to us and what a message they have said. They are farmers and ranchers who are working today to try to get the best and fairest return they can at a time of the worst recession or depression since the 1930s based on inflation factors. They can’t even get back-break even costs for their swine, corn, wheat and soybeans. We talk about fair trade. We talk about free trade. And if you think the American farmer is going to take less for his GMO beans and corn that they have told us and sold to us and said how great they’re going to be, well I think you’re sadly mistaken. I smell class action lawsuits, and if I have to I will lead the charge. I think that this type of corporate monopolization of the industry must end. When we can spend $190.4 million, and I’m sure Larry will allude to it, for bananas in trade sanctions for a group that has no check off, no organization, no promotion and no promotion fees, how can we expect our American independent farmers to take 8 cents for hogs? We export in terms of metric tons and volumes to such countries as the EEC, but yet we don’t think about exporting in sacks and containers that Egypt and Guam can actually buy. I think that’s a sad thing when we’re trying to force things on these people instead of creating the markets and expanding those markets in something they can use. I ask that the independent farmers and ranchers are represented at the World Trade talks in Seattle in November and December by having them represented by Leland Swenson of the National Farmers Union and a consortium of independent ag producers from across this country and world. I ask the family farmers and ranch producers of the world have a 51 percent vote at this meeting. I know that’s a stretch, but I think it’s important. We may control two percent of the population, but we deserve that 51 percent vote because whether -- our future of our production of agriculture is at stake.

Will Rogers, and Norm Hone a good friend of mine, Norm, and Will Rogers who I have never had the opportunity to meet, I believe said, "It is said you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink." I disagree. I say, yes, you can if you put a little salt in the oats. Yesterday I had the opportunity to do a television interview with some of the people in this room with a rib feed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A rack and a half of ribs -- pork ribs was $22. We paid for the ribs and we looked at them and a whole hog at $8 a hundred weight brought less than that whole -- that few ribs that we ate. Sure it was good marketing for those people that sold the ribs but where was the parity for the farmers? Today I was -- Thursday I bid $32 a hundred weight which is $80 per $250 hog -- 250 pound hog. That is still below by about ten percent the breakeven cost of production plus a fair return. The value added is not being passed onto the producer. I ask you honorable dignitaries do you want the multinationals to control production of agriculture worldwide as an efficiency factor? All we heard about a lot this morning was efficient alternatives. Well, then, keep talking free trade, free trade no matter what. Instead we must address mandatory domestic marketing that is open and free and fair and competitiveness in the marketplace. We must address adding value to those products that we’re going to export. Who are we fooling, exporting raw soybeans to China? How much money do you think our country is going to make off of that? I am a charter member but we could make more. We could make a lot more if we could add value such as cooked soybeans that are edible, that are processed, that are ready to feed to the Chinese population. We could add that value right here in the United States rather than having China add that value. I’m a charter member of the South Dakota Soybean Association. I served as their state secretary in 1987. I’m disappointed by them and other organizations. I continue to ask for the resignation of Al Tank as executive director of the National Pork Producers. His actions and his words have hurt my farm income and thousands of my neighbors who are independent producers. We need leaders who should think cooperatively and not -- not corporately. Cooperatively and not corporately. In closing I ask that the blue box continued only in the WTO negotiations for the benefit of independent producers be continued if they benefit those independent producers. I ask that the green box must be continued for the full nine years to guarantee the safety net for the independent producers and the amber box must be closely scrutinized that any reductions must not hurt the independent family farmer. In closing, we need the National Farmers Union as our lead negotiator for fair trade. We need parity prices worldwide and not the continued destruction of family farmers and ranchers in the sake of corporate greed. Thank you very much and I’d be honored to answer any questions. Thank you very much.