Weekly Opinion/Editorial
WHERE’S THE BEEF?by Steve Fair
Last Thursday at our regular Stephens County GOP monthly meeting, sixty plus area Republicans met to hear Scott Pruitt, a candidate for Attorney General, and Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) speak. Both men have primary opponents, but Sykes has no Democrat opponent, so his race will decided on July 27th. After the two men spoke, a ‘town hall’ meeting was convened. Anyone who wants to speak is allocated two minutes to speak on any subject they wish. Several people exercised their first amendment right and spoke, but one local farmer/rancher was the most passionate.
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John Johnson of the Johnson Ranch in the Empire community believes the American farmer is not being represented in Congress. “We are selling wheat for under three dollars a bushel which is the same price it was in the 1950s. The people in Washington don’t get it. Farmers can’t survive selling crops at a price less than what it costs to produce,” Johnson said Thursday night. “Our kids are not staying on the farm because they can’t make a living on the farm. When are the politicians going to stand up for the American farmer?” Johnson asked.
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Johnson is right- the family farm has been under attack for years. According to Dr. Stewart Smith, senior economist for the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, the farmer in 1900 was doing better than the farmer of today. “The turn of the twenty century farmer was getting 41 cents of every food dollar sold, the farmer of 1990 was getting 9 cents. Net farm income fell more than 38% in the past 13 years and an estimated two million farms will be gone from the land in just one generation,” Smith says. “There is no doubt the domestic farm policy has failed America’s family farmers,” Smith concludes.
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Johnson believes selling to China; the world’s largest market should be pursued. “We (the US) need to be exporting beef to China. If Chinese goods are going to fill up Wal-Mart, we shall have the opportunity to sell our corn fed beef to China,” Johnson said. The ‘corn fed’ part may be the issue. Joel Haggard, Asia Pacific Sr. Vice President of the US Meat Export Federation, says, “China is the only country in Asia where we don’t have any access for beef. China has zero tolerance for pathogens in meat and there are restrictions on allowable feed additives.”
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When asked if China is trying to protect a nearly non-existent beef industry, Haggard said, “They've been unable to come to terms as to what should be allowable products. You've got to look at the risks of the specific product rather than operating a trade regime according to linkages with this product or that product. We think the evidence presented has been ample, and we hope the market opens soon.”
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Meanwhile our trade deficit with China continues to widen. According to the Federal Trade Commission, thru April 2010, the US had exported 27.738 billion in goods and imported 98.754 billion. In 2009, our trade deficit with China was $226 billion.
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Johnson believes the politicians in Washington aren’t willing to put pressure on foreign countries to purchase value added agriculture products. “If we had $10 wheat and $2 per lb. calves, you would see people rushing to get back into farming. Little towns like Walters and Temple wouldn’t have closed store fronts, but they would be thriving.”
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In an August 2009 Time magazine article entitled, ‘Getting real about the high price of Cheap Food,’ it was pointed out the American farmer in 1900 was feeding nineteen Americans. In 2009, that number was up to 129 people because of the corporate mentality in farming. The article also pointed out that Americans spend less than 10% of their income on food, down from 18% in 1966. While the article has a liberal slant, it is worth reading and is available online.
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According to the USDA 46% of the land mass of the US is farmland. In China that figure is less than thirty percent. China is undergoing urbanization and 75% of their population is expected to be living in cities within the next ten years, further decreasing their farmland acreage. That dynamic will force them to import more food- why not from the United States?
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After the meeting adjourned, Johnson was approached by State Senator Don Barrington, (R-Lawton). “He made some great points and I want to get him in touch with some Department of Ag people in Oklahoma City,” Barrington said.
*****
“I don’t know if anyone listened, but I just had to speak my mind,” Johnson said. Johnson, who was attending his first GOP meeting, got more than two minutes worth and maybe his common sense ideas will jar some politicians to push China to open their country for American beef or more specifically Stephens County, Oklahoma beef.
*****
John Johnson of the Johnson Ranch in the Empire community believes the American farmer is not being represented in Congress. “We are selling wheat for under three dollars a bushel which is the same price it was in the 1950s. The people in Washington don’t get it. Farmers can’t survive selling crops at a price less than what it costs to produce,” Johnson said Thursday night. “Our kids are not staying on the farm because they can’t make a living on the farm. When are the politicians going to stand up for the American farmer?” Johnson asked.
*****
Johnson is right- the family farm has been under attack for years. According to Dr. Stewart Smith, senior economist for the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, the farmer in 1900 was doing better than the farmer of today. “The turn of the twenty century farmer was getting 41 cents of every food dollar sold, the farmer of 1990 was getting 9 cents. Net farm income fell more than 38% in the past 13 years and an estimated two million farms will be gone from the land in just one generation,” Smith says. “There is no doubt the domestic farm policy has failed America’s family farmers,” Smith concludes.
*****
Johnson believes selling to China; the world’s largest market should be pursued. “We (the US) need to be exporting beef to China. If Chinese goods are going to fill up Wal-Mart, we shall have the opportunity to sell our corn fed beef to China,” Johnson said. The ‘corn fed’ part may be the issue. Joel Haggard, Asia Pacific Sr. Vice President of the US Meat Export Federation, says, “China is the only country in Asia where we don’t have any access for beef. China has zero tolerance for pathogens in meat and there are restrictions on allowable feed additives.”
*****
When asked if China is trying to protect a nearly non-existent beef industry, Haggard said, “They've been unable to come to terms as to what should be allowable products. You've got to look at the risks of the specific product rather than operating a trade regime according to linkages with this product or that product. We think the evidence presented has been ample, and we hope the market opens soon.”
*****
Meanwhile our trade deficit with China continues to widen. According to the Federal Trade Commission, thru April 2010, the US had exported 27.738 billion in goods and imported 98.754 billion. In 2009, our trade deficit with China was $226 billion.
*****
Johnson believes the politicians in Washington aren’t willing to put pressure on foreign countries to purchase value added agriculture products. “If we had $10 wheat and $2 per lb. calves, you would see people rushing to get back into farming. Little towns like Walters and Temple wouldn’t have closed store fronts, but they would be thriving.”
*****
In an August 2009 Time magazine article entitled, ‘Getting real about the high price of Cheap Food,’ it was pointed out the American farmer in 1900 was feeding nineteen Americans. In 2009, that number was up to 129 people because of the corporate mentality in farming. The article also pointed out that Americans spend less than 10% of their income on food, down from 18% in 1966. While the article has a liberal slant, it is worth reading and is available online.
*****
According to the USDA 46% of the land mass of the US is farmland. In China that figure is less than thirty percent. China is undergoing urbanization and 75% of their population is expected to be living in cities within the next ten years, further decreasing their farmland acreage. That dynamic will force them to import more food- why not from the United States?
*****
After the meeting adjourned, Johnson was approached by State Senator Don Barrington, (R-Lawton). “He made some great points and I want to get him in touch with some Department of Ag people in Oklahoma City,” Barrington said.
*****
“I don’t know if anyone listened, but I just had to speak my mind,” Johnson said. Johnson, who was attending his first GOP meeting, got more than two minutes worth and maybe his common sense ideas will jar some politicians to push China to open their country for American beef or more specifically Stephens County, Oklahoma beef.
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