By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

ELKHART, Ind. — Fielding such terms as “the only reason we farm is tradition,” and “it boils down to fuel vs. food.”

U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) listened intently as Elkhart County farmers vented their concerns at a recent meeting called to discuss the upcoming farm bill and the needs of Hoosier farmers.

Donnelly, a freshman Congressman, serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the Subcommittee on Livestock, Poultry and Dairy. The Ag Committee has jurisdiction over renewable energy, reauthorizing the farm bill, disaster assistance and other issues facing rural America. Elkhart was the ninth stop on Donnelly’s tour of Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

“This will help me put together an agriculture advisory board,” he said, adding that the Bush Administration has unveiled its plan, and Congress now must write its version. “We plan to have it written by August,” he said, explaining he asked to be on the agriculture committee because of its importance to his primarily agricultural district, which extends from the Michigan state line to Kokomo.

Ethanol
Ethanol, described by most of the 16 farmers present as being a viable solution to the nation’s fuel needs, is boosting corn prices higher than many livestock raisers can justify spending.

“I can’t afford to feed $4 per bushel corn to my dairy cows,” David Blough said. “Right now, the farm share of what we see in grocery stores is less than 10 percent. That’s not very much. I can’t pay labor on that margin.”

Jim Weeber agreed, warning Donnelly of a possible bloodbath in the dairy business this summer. “It won’t take much for us to see $6 corn,” he said, adding that he raises his own grain.

“That means you have to decide if it’s better to sell your grain or feed it, doesn’t it?” Donnelly asked. Weeber agreed.

A grain farmer said, “We’ve seen $5 corn before, and it wasn’t long until it came back.”

Lynn Loucks, vice president of the Elkhart County Farm Bureau, sponsors of the meeting, said, “Dairy farmers bought $2 corn for a long time, but producers’ costs, including fuel and nitrogen, kept going up. The good point about higher prices is that we don’t need to take a subsidy.”

Land prices
After one farmer described Elkhart County land prices as ranging from $4,000 per acre to more than $10,000 if a four-lane highway cuts through it and cash rents of $300 per acre, farmers asked,

“How is land ever affordable?”

Before Donnelly could answer, someone said he thought the catch phrase of 1978 still held true - you inherit it or you marry it. Most agreed working wives keep their operations afloat.

Farm-Flex
Donnelly chose to co-sponsor the Farm Flex Bill that enables growers to raise non-program crops, such as fruit and vegetables, without losing base acreage.

Citing the desire of Red Gold, an Indiana-based processor, to expand tomato acreage in northern Indiana, he said this is important to the district, although he acknowledged that corn and beans constitute a big portion of the farm bill.

Horses
Loucks said selling horses for human consumption should be an option.

“If we allow animal rights people to shut us down on that, what’s next?” Blough added. “A farmer should have the right to run his own farm. If we have to kill old stock, it’s expensive to have a rendering plant pick up the carcasses - $35 for a cow, $150 for a horse. What happens is we end up with a lot of unwanted old horses.”

Immigration
In reply to concerns about immigration, Donnelly said he expects comprehensive immigration reforms yet this year.

“We need to close borders to illegal immigrants,” he said. “Without borders, we don’t have a country.”

Average adjusted income
The farm bill has a proposal that if a producer has an average adjusted income of $200,000 or more for three tax years the producer would not be eligible for commodity payments for the following year.

Loucks said Farm Bureau supports limiting payments to only those farms earning less than $200,000.

“I’m here to make sure your voice is heard,” Donnelly said. “You’re going to take care of your own places and do it well. I want to make certain solutions can be found in common sense rules.”