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With Commodity Prices Still Low, America's Rural Economy Continues to Struggle
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(56 seconds)
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(OPEN):
COMMODITY-PRICES ARE LOW,
TODAY--AND THE RURAL ECONOMY IS STRUGGLING. IT'S UNDER THIS BACKDROP THAT CONGRESS IS DEBATING A NEW BILL, TO HELP FARMERS WEATHER THE STORM.
SOME OPPONENTS OF U-S FARM-POLICY SAY THAT TIMES AREN'T SO BAD. BUT, BRANDON
WILLIS--A FORMER U-S-D-A OFFICIAL--SAYS THAT THINGS HAVE BEEN ROUGH FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND THAT HELP IS
NEEDED...
(WILLIS):
"ACCORDING TO U-S-D-A STATISTICS, IF YOU LOOK AT THE TOP-FOUR KINDS OF
CROPS--WHAT IT COSTS TO GROW THE CROP--IT OUTPACED MARKET-RETURNS, 70-PERCENT OF THE TIME, IN THE LAST 19 YEARS.
IN OTHER WORDS, IT COSTS MORE TO GROW A CROP THAN THEY'RE GOING TO RECEIVE, 70-PERCENT OF THE TIME, IN THE LAST 19 YEARS.
[THE] KANSAS CITY 'FEDERAL RESERVE' PUT OUT SOME INFORMATION THAT ESSENTIALLY SAID
THAT--WITHOUT OFF-FARM INCOME--MOST FARMERS WOULD BE UNABLE TO PAY OFF THEIR DEBTS."
(CLOSE):
LEARN MORE AT "SUGAR-ALLIANCE"-DOT-ORG.
FOR THE "INTERNATIONAL SWEETENER SYMPOSIUM" IN SAN DIEGO,
I'M ERIC JON MAGNUSON.
For more audio from many of those participating in the 34th-annual
International Sweetener Symposium, click
here.
