Hello everybody out there in farm country. Thank you to Wal-Mart, Monsanto, the Renewable Fuels Association, and John Deere for sponsoring this radio commentary. Today, just an extra word about Wal-Mart. This weekend, I picked up the newspaper. The 30 biggest companies on the Dow Jones were listed, and every company's stock value has declined this year -- some by a huge amount, except Wal-Mart. Up 14%. The explanation is simple. Wal-Mart is well-managed and is providing real value to their…

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Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

Last week, I told you about the Global Financial Leadership Conference. I reviewed the points made by former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker.

I was on the program following…

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Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

And now for today's commentary.

This week, I stood in one of my corn fields barely able to see over the rich green leaves reaching for the sky. We are fortunate. Our crops look good. I drove 50 miles west…

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Hello everybody out there in farm country. The American farmer takes a lot of pride in that we not only provide the safest, most abundant supply of food to our citizens but also, we run a trade surplus in farm exports. We export almost 30% of what we produce. To facilitate export trade, we have entered into a series of bilateral free trade agreements. Up until a few months ago, President Bush had the authority to negotiate trade agreements, bring them to the Congress which could approve them…

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Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns has been listening and talking to farmers, focusing more than anything, on the next farm bill. He has been a big hit with his constituents. He is relaxed, at home, and can speak our language. I am encouraged because when the next bill is written, I expect the Secretary to be in the middle of the negotiations, and that is good. In fact, I was talking with him this morning, he is looking forward to being an active player in writing the next bill.

Every…

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I can't remember a time in this town when there was so much political mud wrestling going on. We can't pass any legislation on to the President's desk because inevitably some one in the Senate will object and filibuster. It takes 601 votes to shut down a filibuster and that's almost impossible to get. The rules in the House of Representatives are different. They can limit debate and force a vote. In fact, the House has stacked some 70 bills on the doorstep of the Senate where they just sit…

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It's been a long time since we went into a planting season with more uncertainty than we face today. We have a war against terrorism, a war in Iraq, a soft economy and drought in many parts of this country. A budget deficit forcing Congress to cut spending -- maybe ours -- and farm prices continue to languish.

Where do we go from here? Is there any other way to go but up? First, I think the war will be a net plus for agriculture in both the Sh0l1 term and long term. Short term, President…

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Although I am not very optimistic about the new round of global trade negotiations, I am much more optimistic about negotiation of bilateral agreements. It is so difficult to get every country in the world to agree on a single plan to reduce duties, to harmonize regulatory standards and not get bogged down in an endless harangue about the environment, labor and even animal rights. However, country by country we can and are making progress.

We just concluded a free trade agreement with…

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Give it to them and they will spend it. Take it away from them and they may exercise a little more spending restraint. At least that's what we could hope. Yes, the President's Economic Stimulus Plan may help to stimulate our economy. I hope it does. Ifit passes. But if you are listening, you can hear the criticism of the plan loud and strong.

Now, why would that be? They say they are afraid the deficit will increase. That it provides too much tax relief to the so-called rich. How about the…

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Closing out the books on 2002 and starting to focus on the New Year. What will it bring? Will the Congress cut our farm bill supports? Will the long sough after 2002 disaster relief that wasn't in the Christmas stocking yet appear? Will we suffer draught or floods or another chicken embargo? I guess if we knew all ofthese answers, we wouldn't have to work.

I realize some farming regions struggled with devastating drought last year. Still, I doubt that the congress will find very much…

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