Domo Wilson is the legislative representative for the American agriculture movement in North Dakota. He's a farmer from Finley North Dakota out in the East Central part of the state, last year. The organization was spreading like a prairie fire across the country you held tractor parades and protests and it all culminated with the march on with the White House in really January to protest the low price for farm products. That was a year ago. And I wonder in recent months why we haven't heard much from the American egg movement and what you're up to right now.well, one reason perhaps you haven't we haven't made headlines is that what we did to our track your movements. Peaches and such to to gain attention to gain recognition in a dramatic way of the farmers plight of North Dakota and the nation and since then perhaps instigated then and now that we have become I believe a recognizedhonorable group of people we are doing more things on a quieter level on the more bites a day-to-day basis like other organizations do Linda just yesterday and all we return from Chicago Lloyd wunnenberg the state New State coordinator for the American League movement where we met with German Tom representative from Washington state with the chairman of the committee and we had an excellent dialogue with him specifically specifically the what he is committee might propose in regards to have come to this coming session of the Congress in Washington. And what we could do is Farmers to help Implement to successfully legislation or or whatever. It might take to increase the farmers take home price on his good city produces and I say the time we had to wait a tremendous meeting. I thought we didn't get any there was nothing concrete resolved. We didn't get any promises of solid promises that he was going to do this or not do that. But we have to have a very friendly meeting that you and mr. Wonnenberg made to mr. Back off from the hundred percent of parody immediately with a long-range goal is this yes, but we are hoping Perhaps it is and senators and Duncan persuade the president and secretary agriculture Berglund to implement present legislation that is already on the books in the 78 Farm Act permits and authorizes the president to Is 90% of parity or raise parody? The figure I should say of parity to 90% on loan value. So you could receive a loan on your Wii to Wii U might have an event that you're waiting to sell as much as 90% of the parody value for that. Right? That's right and consequently this with the automatically almost automatically raise the price of weed throughout the world or other Commodities, whichever primary talking about wheat and barley and corn. Let's not let's talk specifically about what it what would happen in a wheat in that case. Now, if you raise the the loan value to 90% of 34 with you would be talking about a loan value of about 4 1/2 dollars casually for work, right so that the farmer could take a loan on his weed from the federal government of a four and a half dollars. And in that case he could afford to hold that wait until the market price came up to four and a half dollars is that I knew this was going to be that a no couldn't be released until the trigger prices were put into this formula that the department agriculture has feel confident. It's within a very short time. They are the price of what the world would be this price and we then would be also complained with requests made by the Canadian government that we pull up in Canada and the Australian government and the argentines because they are urging and hoping that the government would raise the loan value to raise the price of weed because they know that we the United States control and sets the price of wheat throughout the world and the farmers and those other countries are having difficulties two of their there's conditions are just a desperate is here, but they can't because because we export and Supply roughly 50% 56% On the world exported Fleet. If only we could persuade President Carter and sector Berglund to raise that loan limit believe we could do foreclosure in the losing of many farms by many farmers if we could get that kind of a figure for a product about the conditions of farmers in North Dakota in the Midwest and around the country. Certainly, they're not in this difficult position as last year. Are they given the the new Farm program and higher Target prices and so forth. Well, if you say are the is a difficult as they were last year, I would say almost without exception. Yes and worse 37% better off than last do it, which is a fictitious figure. It might be better off than last year, but that still means we're still losing a lot of money per unit. So we're better off or not. Quite as much as what is that way, but then I believe that an economist put in a person with a calculator could too easily calculate that we are still just as bad off as last year because the price of land there the Basin disfigured II. Your Berglund used is a he's basing it part of the figure is a 10% increase in the value of real estate or land. Well, this is just a paper figure that this is a capital gain invaluable and yes a little bit too. But there are many Commodities were the prices very little better than last year and certainly far below of even 1948. For example, I can try to go back to 1948 and most of our Commodities if we raise North Dakota or higher and 48th and they are now and you and I and all your listening public knows what the increases have been in everything the farmer purchases. The farmer dead Lord is the expense load is his debt is interested in Pays. This is now taking over as the number one expensive farming is debt. It would seem low from my viewpoint it as an observer of farming in this area that the farmers however aren't quite as upset as they were last year. You had no trouble last year and raising a lot of support and getting a lot of people out for marches and protests and so forth. But this year it doesn't seem like people are as quite as interested in making noise. There isn't the kind of dissatisfaction that there was last year could be a man ask the farmers to be noisy or join any tractor Cadence and if we did that I don't know what the response would be. We haven't told her anything, but the farmer is in my area. This day knowing that they can continue this debt load and their government now, it's it seems like the government and the money people are making more money any more easily available and I might use expression too easily available instead of making it somehow possible whether it's government regulation or free enterprise methods to make more money into my pocket or the Farmers pocket by the Salem is commodity they're making more money available to loans in NV. We're just over our heads and Loans now, we we can survive on the ones we have to have some cattle in your pocket that we've learned and buy that toy the same token. We can spend almost there have been some people including the secretary of agriculture who have said that the American egg movement really is made up of farmers who are large Farmers generally generally people who have gone far into debt to buying land and buying equipment and they keeping up with latest equipped. And so forth and that they are not always the farmers who are the best managers who will hang onto an old tractor and I replace an engine in that tractor or who aren't out buying land and so forth and trying to build their Farm Ventures now, I wonder how you respond to that as the legislative leader in one of the leaders of American agriculture North Dakota completely the hundreds of farmers that I become acquainted with through the senses movement started the rough a year ago. I began to realize that the majority of them are young. I want to see young I mean below 40. Let's put it that way. They are many of them are trying to buy out from their dad's some of those that are hanging on maybe our mortgage to their dad will not foreclose. But many of the men many are just mortgage to the bank for Lending institutions and they are not taking any payments on the capital. They are making very fortunate to eat. Some of them are able to pay the interested. Let me ask you this many of them are rather young farmers and I wonder if they if you got into a style of management during those couple of years of high prices and times when Farmers had to get to they had so much income in a couple of years there that they had to go out and buy land and by Machinery just to keep the tax bite down a little bit. You think they got into a style of management that turned out to not be the best thing for them after after those high prices at I hit bottom. Yes, I'll be the first to admit that it's some of them did they say they fell into the start of the Trap the thinking that they were going to get $5 a week to for sometime in the future and the market themselves about the land they got some expensive machinery and some then expand where they was that thought in mind but many of them just the routine very prudent to their daughter are still going heavily in debt. And then and then some nowadays in this part of the state is specially the eastern part of the state the value might say the majority of the farmers here are better off than some of those further west of us into and out of this slush Red River Valley, but if you look at the financial statement that came out of PCA last year, for example, and I'm sure it's the same lad this year. It is just tremendously the debt load that is increased on these these borrowers in these institutions where we can read the records, but I think it anyone can talk to Banker there any lender money lender and a huge shake his head at the debt load that some of these Farmers have in it are very conscientious and many of them but I think the the death Lord is our number one problem it a second to course to the price for a product how much protesting and that tractor parades and so forth is your organization going to support that kind of action at all this year to think will look join this Caravan tractor Caravan marching on Washington driving on the Washington beginning and genuine January 15th. And with the arrival date the plant arrival date of February 5th in Washington DC and these tractors will be coming in especially from the south and areas closer to Washington. And we hope that we North Dakota will have one or two tractors in that Caravan, but that to my knowledge as of the present anyway is the extent of any trucks or demonstrations or demonstrations. We're not planning on going to the Border like we did last year. We did these things initially to gain attention. Now that is a main reason to focus on the farmers throughout the United States, but now that we've got to convince this Eastern Congressman, for example, the man from Brooklyn New York, Philadelphia that it's to his benefit than the benefit of his constituents back and he said he's that the farmer gets a living wage for his product us a little profit like all other business does the average farmer goes broke and is taken over by the big farmer in just a matter of a handful of Farmers control it then we will be paying for our agricultural products. Thank you very much for talking with us today Elmer Olsen. Who's the legislative representative for the American agriculture movement in North Dakota. Thank you very much. And that was John it's tea at KCC. I'm in Moorhead talking with mr. Olson. And of course one of the people most active in the American agriculture movement in Minnesota is a person who sees a lot of Elmo Olsen a person is Tom Benson who farms near Appleton in Minnesota and Tom is on the line with us right now is part of midday time. I'd like to begin our conversation where John and Elmo left off and that was with the plan trip to Washington now in January. My question to you Tom is about the reception you have received in Washington as American agriculture movement members have tried lobbying efforts tried to win legislation what has been the reception of members of Congress to Farmers. I think the reception has been generally good last summer. When we started to work on our parody resolution most of the objection to it seemed to be that there wasn't time to pass it or Senators have objected to the to the goal. So I'm optimistic that then that will be able to get this at 90%. Resolution through the house add committee and hopefully you and it did Administration to raise the prices to a Lawn prices to 90% of parody this resolution for the producer but it's also a protection for the consumer and that guarantee 90% of parity loan on the commodity to the producer afford to invest to produce the Commodities at the nation in the world needs and in the resolution where that's at 100% of parody and a call Price 110% of parody. I guarantee he's a producer that the price will not Skyrocket on them. Mentioned one of the problems it seems in getting any kind of legislative program passed Congress supported by the American agriculture movement is convincing the constituents of members of congress the people living in cities and around our country. The people who are not farmers of what the needs of the farmers are what has been your experience in that area. What are the major areas of misunderstanding you think between the farm sector and other sectors of life in our country has been accomplished by American egg and other Farm organizations in this last year that the consumers are and and of course the farmers being the number one consumer. We're in the same boat as the rest of them. In fact, we're in worse shape. I think that when when consumers realize that the price of food has gone up 57% in the Last 5 Years. In the meantime Farm production costs have gone up 63% are outstanding debt has gone up 157% and our girls has gone down 20% I think that an indication that there's a problem the problem. Of course, is there nothing affects the consumers is that the we have to substitute earned income with bald capital and when we do that to the tune of twenty billion dollar increase in a year at drives interest rates up to all the rest of the consumers. I didn't care consumers are realizing. What's the what's happening and I feel that a lot of Headway head way that people run don't even realize it's happening Tom Benson. We saw you at the state capitol in st. Paul the number along with Number of other Minnesota and surrounding states farmers who had come to the capital with their tractors in pickup trucks to to participate and what was one of a number of gatherings at state capitals around the country is a year ago. The American agriculture movement has been strongest some say in the southern states of this country and its membership than his spread northward more or less. What is the participation among Minnesota Farmers as best you can judge for the thinking that over the years and Farmers have been fighting for a fair for a fair return and a Fair Labor return for for 30 years and Worn out economically, they can't afford to fight and but I think the reason that we don't have a demonstration at the Capitol now is that they were concentrating and certain points for an example is going to be an effort to have a demonstration in Topeka, Kansas on Saturday and that will give some indication as to how many tractors plan do I go into Washington. I think I hit Minnesota North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and we have an additional that they don't have in the southern states last year when we had the demonstration and Saint Paul the day before we had an absolute blizzard. So some of those people that had had the intended to participate in that program didn't even get out of their yards. They were busy blowing snow to take care of their lines Dock and their And there and their family number of American agriculture movement people have traveled to Washington you Tom have traveled to many meetings around the country how expensive has this movement of about a year-and-a-half now been how much out-of-pocket money have some Farmers spent on their American agriculture movement activities and Iran money. I'm very sure. I'm more than some of them more than me, but they realize you don't solve the agricultural economic problem that the nation is is is just going to go down the drain with us. It's obvious that our balance of payments are the dollar is going down in value and the reason and our opinion. Is it worth importing high-priced? Betray him to wait and we're exporting the weed at a loss. And when you do that you end up with the situation. We've been doing it for 25 years and no compound in each year. It is getting worse and worse and it's not really showing up and the strong Nations people in the world are Prince's the Japanese import. Are we to they tax it more than what they pay for it and show it to the Millers and the Japanese people paid. It's making a good sound economic structure for other country in the European common market that does likewise. They packed all of our Commodities going into the countries. We should learn from them, and it would seem to me that I just have to it has to happen or will run in an economic problem Tom Benson. Thanks for joining us today as part of. Midday. Tom Benson and has been active in American agriculture movement in Minnesota has been one of the coordinators and he'll continue to work with the American agriculture movement is the activities of January begin to occur including the Gathering not only in Washington DC, but later on in Topeka, Kansas to earlier we talked with Elmo Olson the legislative representative for the American agriculture movement in North Dakota. Talk with NPR Shaun hit Steve kccm John also spoke with another farmer Dwayne karlstrom. He's a farmer in the Red River Valley of Minnesota. And he feels that farmers are not quite as desperate as Elmo Olsen or Tom Benson might have us believe karlstrom along with his sons Farms about 14 hundred acres of land trusts chocolate Moorhead in the valley and his main crops are sugar beets wheat and barley and when visit one visited by a HD karlstrom had been loading some grain and his trucks barley. As a matter of fact, I've been hauling it to the local elevator and carlstrom assess his 1978 season production-wise. I I'd say 90 + 78 is probably been right up at the very top production Weiser price-wise a little bit better than 77, but it's still so could use a lot of improvement. What are you look then at your overall Ledger, you've got good production and not quite the kind of price that you want. What kind of fun? Actual situation is that your business in the business? And what's your neighbors going to be in this year Machine new purchases and and some other inputs goal, but I don't see anything in my area that that looks too too serious. That could be a few of the younger Farmers that are just getting started and are highly leveraged is at that. They would be the ones that would be having the most problems right now. You've had probably as good a production hear those anywhere in in in the Upper Midwest this year, haven't you? Oh, yeah, so we had Well, it's just a bushel average weed 70 bushel of barley and 22 little over 20 to tan on the beach and that that's been the big help. I know as far as sugar beets go throughout the valley if it hadn't been for the high tonnage is the last two years with the poor prices have been in very serious shape. But so far we're able to slide along so farmers in this area probably are getting by because of his desire the high production and if you were somewhere maybe out in western part of North Dakota or South Dakota, you might be facing a tight squeeze with prices the way they're wearing for Marietta area. And I think maybe the area we are are here in the Red River Valley is one of the more fortunate is Buddy, you're go right at this time. There was a lot of disenchantment on the part of farmers with the prices. They were getting prices were really at the lowest level since the depression and we saw a protest in tractorcade and we serve beef tickets at the borders not allowing Canadian beef into the North Dakota. I wonder if you think generally the farm situation is in A Titan of situation now that we're going to see that kind of thing again or have things eased up as the the new government program with a higher support prices. And so first come into effect of the taking the sting out of a out of the conditions for the farmers are facing. Oh, I think I think it has somewhat but I guess they're still talk of more protests. I felt last winter and some of the tactics used blockade and Roads and that we're not the kind of thing that I cared to see but I think they did some good that there's no question that the high prices enjoyed say three or four years ago caused a lot of farmers to go in debt buying a high price land and high-priced Machinery more than they should have been and when the prices went down in the Machinery keeps going up 78% a year hits anybody that owes money. It's got to cost a problem at the problem is a serious this year. Do you think Or hat has that has the new Farm program taking some of the sting out of it. I would guess they can't be quite a serious because it is has to have some but according to production cost. Of course, there's it's still a nip-and-tuck on I'm making a profit. Let's talk a little bit about that. You've been loading up barley today from some of the bins that you probably harvested this fall or maybe even last fall as barley. What do you think about the price you're going to get at the elevator plus the deficiency payment that the government will pay you the difference between your market price and and the Target price that the government of set. Are you going to be able to make a profit on that barley or are you simply staying Eve a small profit? We hoped I would say it's hard to say just how much but we know we know where am I going to make a little bit? When you get when you think about that small profit, is it worth it for you to stay in business farming? I mean, can you can you afford to keep this kind of investment that you have here in the Red River Valley Landon and all the equipment that you have if you get that kind of a return on your barley and wheat and sugar beets. Well, we know that if I put the money in the bank probably make more money than we do farming, but I guess we don't even really think about it. It's it's a way of life, and we've always got the hope that things will turn around and there will be some good profits in the years to come. Thank you very much for talking with us doing karlstrom who's a farmer from South Moorhead. He Farms about 14 hundred acres with his sons. And most of the land is in sugar beets wheat and barley. Thanks again. This is John XD.