Esch Urges Adoption Of Farm Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Marvin L. Esch, Michigan Congressman representing the Second Congressionál District, in testimony before a , House Agriculture Subcommittee, has urged adoption of a bilí he has introduced which would require the Secretary o f Agriculture t o m a k e advance payments to producers of wheat under the feed grain program. "What happened last year when advance payments were withheld is all too fresh on everybody's mind," he said. Esch recounted a year ago, "Farmers across the country were f o r c e d into paying record high interest rates and borrowing untold millions to pay for seed, fertilizer and t h e i r many other heavy expenses. Prior to that, farmers had been able to sign up for these programs and use the cash payments to meet their spring obligations. "This is a crucial time of the year for the farmer. It is now in the weeks ahead that he must make very critical choices on what and how I much to plant, whether or not I to invest in new equipment, I what types of seed to use, I whether or not to make this or that purchase with respect to fertilizers and insecticides. In just about every instance, the choice he makes is dictated by the price he must pay. If the farmer looked at it any other way, his future as a farmer would be severely limited." Under the Esch proposal, payments to farmers who sign up for the program would have to be made within 60 days and such payments would be equal to not less than 50 per cent of the total payment to be made under the program. "Without advance payments it becomes clear to even the most casual observer that we will end up putting the farmer in another vise," he said. The Ann Arbor Congressman said that while farm income continually declines, everything the farmer pays for is on the upswing, includand wages. "I hesitate to use that overworked cliché, 'The Forgotten American' - but if there was ever a 'Forgotten American,' it is the American farmer," said Esch. Esch added that he feit if given the chance, the overwhelming majority of members of Congress would support his bill.