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Aug. 4, 1999
At festive event, farm crisis loomsPanel discusses poor prices, plentiful crops, party politicsBy TONY ZIEBOL Journal Staff Writer People just stood and stared. The mammoth model 3600 Twin Line Planter, 30 rows and all, folded and rotated to make it road ready. Made by Kinze in Williamsburg, Iowa, it caught more than a few people's attention. "It's one of our biggest sellers," said Phil Jennings, Sr. Service Representative of Kinze, who gave the demonstration. "When you fire it up, people stop and watch." This was just one of hundreds of farm equipment on display for Wednesday's opening of Farmfest '99 in Redwood County. And that was just the beginning. Souped-up trucks and a tractor pull dragster sat silently. Mini horses and large hogs, not to mention a children's pedal tractor pull contest, were favorites of the young ones. But if you are a farmer, this was the place to be. From antique tractors to year 2000 models, skid loaders to air seeders, or calf jackets to lowline miniature cattle, anything and everything relating to farm products was here. Future farmer Ben Burman, 11, from Waterloo, Iowa, tried out one of the antique tractors from the 1920s. "It would be cooler if the owner pretty much took better care of it," he said. Farmers were pretty much saying the same thing about the farm crisis at The Transition Program forum and panel, "Freedom To Farm Or Freedom To Fail?" Issues discussed included getting rid of trade embargoes with other nations, corporations ruining commodity prices, party politics and just plain getting organized as farmers. "The No. one problem is a total lack of leadership in farming today," said farm operator Harlan Anderson of Cokato. "Who's in charge?" Anderson proposed getting all the groups together, represented in the panel, to do something to help the agriculture business. These included the National Farmers Union, National Farmers Association, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the American Farm Bureau (to name a few). "I don't believe the people in Washington (D.C.) are going to have an answer for us," Anderson said. American Farm Bureau President Dean Kleckner said a major problem was just that the crop supply was too big and the demand too little, and he mentioned the embargo problems. "We don't realize how much (the embargoes have) hurt us," Kleckner said. The University of Extension Service addressed the farm crisis as well, with many booths containing facts and information. Even University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof gave a short presentation about university issues and the farm crisis. "We understand and we understand well, the farm crisis," Yudof said, noting that the incoming agricultural students is up 46 percent. "The most important thing is to be as responsive as we can to the agriculture industry." Yudof also seemed to enjoy the festivities. "I love FARMFEST and I'm just disappointed I didn't get to ride in a John Deere this year."
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