Iowa’s Reliance Net Farm Income Five Year Avg. –$2.049 Billion

Craig Hill, Vice President, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Supporting Rural Communities Prepared for the IPC Seminar “The 2007 Farm Bill Debate: Domestic and International Imperatives” May 24, 2005

Iowa’s Reliance Net Farm Income Five Year Avg. –$2.049 Billion Government Payments Five Year Avg. –$1.624 Billion

Iowa’s Reliance = 80% Net Farm Income Five Year Avg. –$2.049 Billion Government Payments Five Year Avg. –$1.624 Billion

Iowa’s Reliance Net Farm Income Five Year Avg. –$2.910 Billion

Iowa’s Reliance Net Farm Income Five Year Avg. –$2.910 Billion Government Payments Five Year Avg. –$777 Million

Iowa’s Reliance = 27% Net Farm Income Five Year Avg. –$2.910 Billion Government Payments Five Year Avg. –$777 Million

How Many Farms Does It Take? Value of Ag Output - $200 Billion 30,495 Farms 50% 0% 10% 389 Farms 100% 2,000,000 Farms 25% 3,201 Farms 34,085 Farms

(14% of Farms)(40% of Farms) (20% of Farms)(16% of Farms)

Farm Income (2002) 82% of all farm family income comes from off- farm sources Only 7% of farms get all income from the farm For 70% of farms 75% or more of income comes from off-farm income 30% of very large farms received more than 75% of income from off-farm

Rural Communities are less dependent on farms than farms are dependent on communities.

Trade For American agriculture to be profitable, international trade is vital. Our goal is to dismantle all barriers to trade and trade distorting incentives. However, the United States will not do so unilaterally.

U.S. Agricultural Exports Account for 75 million of the Total 300 million Harvested Acres

Projected Government Spending Average $93 Billion Increase Per Year

Conclusion Time is now to reach for the best farm policy not just the familiar one.