John Block Reports from Washington

Hello everybody out there in farm country.

I am proud to report today that Wal-Mart Stores is one of my sponsors. No other retailer delivers more value to the shopper than Wal-Mart. That's only part of the story. No one else comes close to Wal-Mart's charitable giving effort either. Did you see the Red Kettles in front of the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores? They raised 32 million dollars for the Salvation Army. I love the Salvation Army. Thank you, Wal-Mart.

And now for today's commentary.

Last week, I was on my farm in Illinois. The snow-covered plains stretched as far as the eye could see. But what I imagined seeing out there was acres and acres of tall corn putting on big ears getting ready for harvest.

As I thought and dreamed about the 2008 crop that is yet to be planted, I said to myself, "we need a big crop -- not just the U.S., but the world needs a big crop." Our critics are nipping at our heels and blaming the higher food prices on ethanol. Everyday there is another story about expensive food and hunger in Africa.

Then, I think about how much of what we produce we export -- 25% of our farm production. We need to promote trade, but Senators Clinton and Obama fought to see who could be the most critical about NAFTA. I was in a meeting last week with President Bush and about 15 other former Cabinet members. The purpose of the meeting that the President called was for us to work together to keep the trade channels open and work to pass the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea free trade agreements. That's not going to b easy in this atmosphere.

When you think about trade, the farm bill comes to mind. The Democratic leaders' message -Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid said what most of us wanted to say -- "just get it done." Well, let's hope they do. The clock is ticking.

Now I find myself back in Washington, hoping to keep free trade on the table, get the farm bill done, and looking forward to planting a beautiful 2008 crop.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington.