Farmers form united front against bill
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—About
300 fanners confronted U.S. Agricul
ture Secretary Dan Glickman and a
panel of other civic leaders Sunday in
what may be the final public forum on
a controversial Farm Bill that would
reduce spending for family farms.
“We’re tryingto do something here
that doesn’t happen enough in Wash
ington,” said Carolyn Mugar, the ex
ecutive director of Farm Aid.
“We’re going to listen to the real
experts—the family farmers and not
those agri-business lobbyists who are
more interested in fingering dollars
than dirt,” she said.
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Committee approved more than $ 13.4
billion in spending cuts from farm
programs over the next seven years.
Congress must now choose between
two tracks for cutting spending and
changing farm policy that has been in
place since the Great Depression.
Farmers from California, Georgia,
Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska were
among the group assembling a few
hours before Farm Aid’s lOth-anni
versary concert was to begin in nearby
Cardinal Stadium.
i
In addition to Glickman, the panel
included U.S. Rep. Mike Ward, D
Ky., Kentucky Agriculture Commis
sioner Ed Logsdon, poet and author
Wendell Berry, along with represen
tatives from various agricultural
groups.
Farmers formed a united front at
the forum in opposing the government
action they felt would concede their
land and livelihoods to agricultural
big businesses.
Represented interests ranged from
agricultural education to race in agri
culture to protecting the environment.
But the basic message echoed by
every agricultural interest group
seemed to be the same: protect small,
family-owned farms from corporate
agri-business.
“Many farmers feel it’s not how
big you are, but how well you get the
job done,” said Sue Weant, a repre
sentative from Mothers and Others, a
consumer education group.
“The consumers must pay farmers
enough so they can keep their farms,
so in years to come, children won’t
think that broccoli comes from the
frozen-food aisle at the grocery,” she
said, “or that chicken is something
you find in styrofoam, wrapped in
plastic.”
The owners of those family farms
agree.
“(Corporate interests) are destroy
ing our industries socially, environ
mentally and economically,” said
Roger Allison, a Kansas farmer and
representative of the Campaign for
Family Farms and the Environment.
“This industrialization is not about
efficiency or quality,” he said, “it’s
about huge amounts of capital in con
trol of the marketplace who are un
fairly forcing country farmers out .of
business.”
G1 ickman answered the farmers by
saying the national trend was moving
away from agriculture. America has
largely become an urban society and,
as a result, mostly urban interests are
represented in Washington, he said.
“We are fighting to resist farm
policy that will wreak havoc on rural
America,” Glickman said. “But all of
this is going into a budget reconcilia
tion bill, which is going to have hun
dreds and hundreds of other kinds of
programs. That makes it extraordinar
ily difficult to deal with farm policy,
which deserves special attention.
“We are fighting to resist
farm policy that will
wreak havoc on rural
America. ”
DAN GLICKMAN
U.S. Agriculture Secretary
“I don’t know what that means
down the road,” he said, “but it’s dif
ficult with a Congress that wants ex
traordinary changes in such a short
period of time.”
With more than 50 voices heard
throughout the forum, it was one young
girl who put a human face on the
farmers’ plight.
Katie Godfrey, 10, said she lives
near a newly industrialized hog farm
in Powersville, Mo. She read a poem
about the stench given off by the farm
and the waste material polluting a
stream near her rural home.
Godfrey received a standing ova
tion — the loudest of the forum —
when she finished reading.
“I know you maybe don’t think this
affects kids,” Godfrey said directly to
Glickman. “But it does.”
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Alumnus
contributes
to research
By Tonya Cross
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln might soon find it easier to re
main on the leading edge of biotech
nology research, thanks to the contri
bution of an NU alumnus.
Oak B. Smith, best known for his
efforts to develop and perfect food
processing methods, established an
endowed fund worth more than
$275,000 prior to his death.
Theresa Klein, director of public
relations and publications, said the
fund would help UNI. buy new equip
ment and research technology.
“NU educates folks to continue on
the cutting edge,” she said.
The fund will establish the Smith
Research Facility in the George W.
Beadle Center for Genetics and
Biomaterial Research. The facility will
be home to researchers studying and
modifying proteins.
Ann Smith said her husband wanted
to improve the quality of life for oth
ers, and that motivated him to become
active in food technology research.
“My husband wanted to help solve
the hunger problem of the world by
conductingprotein research,” she said.
Smith earned his bachelor’s de
gree in agricultural economics from
the University of Nebraska in 1940.
He became internationally famous as
a pioneer in the food processing field.
Irv Omtvedt, vice chancellor for
the Institute of Agriculture and Natu
ral Resources, said in a statement that
the Smith Research Facility offered
new opportunities for the university
and its students.
It will allow researchers to address
problems that dramatically affect the
agricultural and food industries,
Omtvedt said.
“With Smith’s assistance and gen
erosity, the future of food processing,
food technology and protein research
looks promising as the University of
Nebraska continues to search for new
knowledge,” he said.
Engineers
manufacture
guardrail
From Staff Reports
UNL engineers and a Texas steel
company have developed a new type
. of guardrail designed to reduce inju
ries.
Beam Eating Steel Technology
(BEST) was one of four guardrail ter
minals recently approved for use on
high-speed roads, said Dean Sickiag,
director of the Midwest Roadside
Safety Facility at the College of Engi
neering and Technology.
Sicking said the system was reus
able, making the price competitive
and one of the safest for interstates.
Upon impact, the BEST rail will
capture the front of the car, dissipate
the energy of the impact and bring the
car to a stop. Earlier guardrails, de- -
signed to stop the car, resulted in a
high number of injuries and deaths, he
said.
Nebraska recently stopped using
the old guardrails and is considering
the BEST system for the interstates.
The system already is used in Texas.
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln worked withinterstate Steel Cor
poration of Big Springs, Texas, to
develop th& BEST system.
Sicking said researchers tested the
system in a full-scale vehicle crash
testing facility at the Lincoln Munici
pal Airport.
UNL has applied for a patent on the
system. Once the patent is granted,
Sicking said, the university will re
ceive royalties from the sale of the
system.
“We hope that a significant amount
will be used to enhance our research
program,” Sicking said. “I expect that
will happen.”
