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Wednesday, September 15, 1999
By GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- In an attempt to create a more level playing field for Minnesota farmers, Senator Paul Wellstone, (DFL-Minn.), continues to push for better controls at the federal level. On Monday, Wellstone introduced legislation that will enforce a moratorium on mergers, acquisitions and marketing agreements between agribusinesses with net revenues or assets over $50 million, to allow Congress an opportunity to review antitrust laws. "Our current system isn't working," he said during a telephone press conference Tuesday. "The growing number of mergers and acquisitions in the agricultural sector raise serious questions about the concentration of power." The large conglomerates have all the power and have removed it from the farmers. It is time to determine if the current anti-trust laws are functioning in the current global economy, he said. "There are serious questions about whether or not these laws are adequate in the face of unchecked, global concentration," he said. "The big agribusiness companies talk about efficiency, but there is more at stake here." There is no longer any room for the family farmers to compete in a global economy and the rural communities are suffering as a result of the farm crisis, he said. "We need to look at the question of food sustainability," Wellstone said. "It is increasingly dangerous to rely on only a few companies for our food supply." It is time for Congress to put a stop to the increasing trend of developing two separate American societies, one urban and well-off and the other rural and struggling, he said. "Antitrust is the key to this whole equation," he said. While traveling throughout the state during the month of August, Wellstone had the opportunity to visit with farmers from a variety of places and backgrounds. "People are burning up their equity right now and are wondering if they should get out now, because there is no way they can survive," he said. The key to solving the problem is not only to stop mergers and acquisitions, but to get the financial assistance out to the people who need it the most, he said. "I don't what the delay is," he said. "The goal now needs to be to raise the loan rate and get the prices back up. I am focused on the need for antitrust action." This legislation is just one part of the equation and there is a long way to go before a solution is found, he said. "We have to hold people accountable for their actions," he said. "There is no disaster relief in this package, but it is essential that we get this out there and get votes, especially since we know what the prices are going to look like. We are going to change this policy one way or the other." August was a good month for Wellstone and other members of Congress, because it helped them learn the seriousness of the situation and he hopes a change can be made in the price and loan rates. "There is a direct connection between agriculture and finance reform," he said. "We have to stay at this to change it. There is no such thing as losing." The farm issue is an election issue and might change the way people vote during the next election, as well, as farmers will look to see who is in their best interest when they go to the polls, Wellstone said. "I hope farmers will hold everyone accountable for what they are going through," he said. "Yes they're angry and they have a reason to be. It's unconscionable what's happening right now."
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