Thank you so much, Darrell, Bob don't go out yet. We are going to hear from Congressman David Minge by telephone from Washington. And I think somebody is going to go ahead and make the -- make the call . Maybe while they’re doing that, let me just also take a moment to introduce a few people that are in the room. I hesitate to do this because I’ll run into some trouble, I’m sure. But, first of all, Tracy Beckman, would you please stand? Tracy is the State Director of the Farm Service Agency of the Federal Government here in Minnesota. We also have some state legislators from Minnesota here and I would ask them if they would stand, too. I’ve seen Senator Scavel (ph), Representative Bob Ness, Representative Julie Storm and Representative Ted Winter who is here, as well. If they would stand, please. Maybe they’re out of the room, but I appreciate their being here, as well. We’ve got some legislators I know from South Dakota and some of them are going to be sharing some afterwards, so I won’t mention their names now, but we’ll get a chance perhaps to talk to them. You’ll get a chance to talk to them, as well. I also would introduce Mitch Gross from the Iowa Department of Agriculture. Iowa is one of the places where the listening session is going to be later, so he’s here spying to see what’s actually going on. So, Mitch, good to have you here, as well. So are we -- are we ready? Congressman?

CONGRESSMAN MINGE:

Yes.

COMMISSIONER HUGOSON:

Gene Hugoson here.

CONGRESSMAN MINGE:

Yes.

COMMISSIONER HUGOSON:

So we have on the line Congressman David Minge from Minnesota’s Second District. Herb Halberson from the Congressman’s office is here, as well. Herb, stick your hand up if you will, please. Thank you. Congressman, if you want to go ahead, everybody is ready. Thank you.

CONGRESSMAN MINGE:

Thank you very much, Commissioner Hugoson. I appreciate the opportunity to join you in the meeting today. As you perhaps know, we also have the Crown Prince of Norway in the twin cities today, so this is truly a red-letter day for Minnesota. I’d like to begin by stating that there is certainly broad agreement that trade opportunities are important for upper Midwest agriculture. This has been the case for over a hundred years. We are a region that exports farm products. In fact, some estimates are that we export as much as a third of what we raise in crops in this region. It’s also important that we avoid using food as a weapon in our foreign policy. Sanctions hurt the U.S. producers more than they hurt other countries and it’s counterproductive. So I expect there’s very broad agreement today as to the importance of trade and the importance of -- of eliminating sanctions. I guess as background I’d like to raise two additional points of concern, and in raising these points I wish to emphasize that they are not intended to detract from my commitment to the principles of -- of advancing trade and trade opportunities for agricultural products. The first point of concern is volatility. Volatility in pricing -- prices is devastating to U.S. farmers. This volatility is due in large part to changes in international supply and demand and it’s also due to changes in currency rates. The United States farm and trade programs must seek to stabilize markets and the U.S. currency. I propose that the United States take the initiative in talks with other major exporting and importing countries to avoid dumping large quantities of grain and establish multiyear firm purchase arrangements. Certainly, we should join with our Canadian neighbors, Australia, the European Union, Brazil, Argentina. These are the major grain exporting parts of the world and we all have a common goal in this respect. I know that there’s unhappiness in some quarters in this country with the Canadian Wheat Board, for example; but I see that this is an opportunity to join with our Canadian neighbors to try to achieve the best possible price for American farmers, just like Canada seeks to achieve the best possible price for its farmers. Similarly, the United States should work through the International Monetary Fund, G-8 and other multilateral and multinational organizations to stabilize currencies. The strength of the United States dollar, at this point, has substantially eroded the price at the elevators for United States grain. And this is tragic, because our domestic market is by far our largest market, and when the domestic price is dramatically or substantially reduced due to international currency fluctuations it is extremely costly to the American farmer. The other point of concern that I wish to raise is production standards. Other countries’ rules and regulations regarding the environment and workplace affect our competitiveness in international markets. An example that recently came to my attention is pork production. Water quality standards and manure handling requirements in our country are exacting. We’re concerned about the environment. We recognize the importance of stewardship. But this can place us at a competitive disadvantage with hog operations in some parts of the world such as South America. Competition is accepted as a part of the marketplace, but this should not come at the expense of sound environmental standards. As a part of our trade policy, we must seek to harmonize environmental standards and their enforcement. And I urge that as we move ahead with our trade negotiations both -- both the USDA and the USTR recognize the importance of stability, eliminating volatility or controlling volatility and stabilizing currencies as one key point in this new era. And, secondly, that we seek to harmonize the standards under which farmers produce in parts of the world. I appreciate the chance to join you this morning.

COMMISSIONER HUGOSON:

Thank you, Congressman. We appreciate that. At this point we’re going to begin our listening session actually into the listening. And so panel members, I guess, if you’re going to take your positions up there. Do you want to take a break first? All right, we’ll take a break. When we come back, let me introduce our moderator first, though, because then when we come back, she is in charge. Robin Kinney, a friend, has certainly been involved with agriculture for a number of years, a former farm broadcaster, will be doing the honors today of keeping all of us in line. And so let’s take a five, ten-minute break, stretch a bit and then we’ll come back and get going.