BY JON HILLSON AND BILL KALMAN
CINCINNATI, Ohio-In early April, President William Clinton signed into law a farm bill that ends many price supports farmers have received since the 1930s. Clinton acknowledged the so-called Freedom to Farm Bill "would leave farmers and the rural communities in which they live vulnerable to reductions in crop prices or yields." Besides ending price supports over a seven-year period, the new law only maintains for two more years the food stamp program, which affects millions of working people in the countryside and cities.

The farm bill, monopoly concentration in the countryside, and pollution were among the topics discussed by 600 members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) during its March 8-11 annual convention here.

The gathering attracted grain, livestock, dairy, and tobacco producers, most of them working farmers. Founded in 1902, the NFU represents 250,000 farm and ranch families, mostly in the Midwest and High Plains regions. Most in attendance this year were older farmers, many retired or semi-retired. "This time of year," a 35- year-old South Dakota farmer said, referring to preparations for planting, "it's hard for young farmers to take time off."

The theme of the convention was to urge the Clinton administration to veto the farm bill, which had recently been passed by both houses of Congress and was signed by the president a few weeks later.

Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman set the tone of the convention in his keynote speech. He promised White House support for "family farm safety nets," a term used in previous farm bills delineating commodity price supports. On signing the act, Clinton said he would submit legislation next year to "strengthen the farm safety net."

The issue generating the most discussion at the meeting was the impact of the monopoly concentration of meatpackers and factory-scale livestock facilities on working farmers and rural communities.

One plenary session stressed cooperation and "dialogue" between the capitalist megafarms and small livestock producers. "We need to look at the big picture," said John Lacey, president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the main ranching trade association, and called for "better communication between the various agriculture groups." He advocated a fight against meat imports.

Reflecting widespread opposition to the capitalist megafarms among owners of small and medium-sized farms, more than 250 people attended a workshop on this question. A panel featured Kansas cattle rancher Wanda Adams and Iowa farmer Blaine Nickles.

"In the last three years, 13,000 to 16,000 hog farmers have been lost in Iowa because of big corporate farms," Iowa Farmers Union vice president Gary Hoske remarked in the discussion period.

Farmers at the conference expressed different views on the question of immigration. Nickles said he had "nothing against Mexican workers. Almost every day they send back a couple of carloads of them," in reference to increased immigration police raids in the Midwest. This statement received a smattering of applause, reflecting some anti-immigrant sentiment in the audience.

One person who thought differently was Linda Hessman, a member of the board of directors of the Kansas Farmers Union and long-time immigrant rights activist from Dodge City, Kansas. "A lot of immigrant workers were farmers in their own countries," she said. "Farmers need to stop and look at the history of these people, including how and why they got here."  
 
 
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