Minnesota farmers are among the world’s best when it comes to producing corn, soybeans and other commodities. Our fertile soil and favorable growing conditions help us produce crops that are the envy of farmers around the world. However, Minnesota’s 5 million people consume far less than our farmers grow. As a result, much of our farm production must be sold to consumers in other states and countries.

International exports are especially important for us. Each year, Minnesota farmers export a third of their corn crop, half of their soybean crop, and a third of their wheat crop. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Minnesota is the seventh biggest agricultural exporter and the ninth most export-dependent among all 50 states.

The USDA also reports that Minnesota farm exports support more than 44,000 jobs both on the farm and off the farm in processing, storage and transportation businesses. Measured as a function of exports divided by total farm cash receipts, Minnesota’s reliance on exports rose from 24 percent to 32 percent since 1991.

The picture is much the same for the country as a whole. Nationwide, agriculture is more than twice as export-dependent as the rest of the economy. A quick look at the numbers tells the story: U.S. farmers produce 41 percent of the world’s corn, 47 percent of the world’s soybeans and 12 percent of the world’s wheat, but we have only 4 percent of the world’s population. As tough as the current economic climate is for farmers, it would be a whole lot tougher if we couldn’t export.

On a more personal level, agricultural exports play a major role in determining the price each farmer gets for his or her crops. In 1995, U.S. farmers exported $54.7 billion in farm goods. In 1996, they exported $59.9 billion. During this time of strong international trade, Minnesota corn prices rose to $3.95 per bushel and Minnesota soybean prices soared to a peak of $8.23 per bushel.

However, the picture changed dramatically when the Asian economic crisis hit in the summer of 1997. As the financial meltdown caused foreign countries to cut back on their import of American farm products, U.S. grain stockpiles rose and prices dropped. In 1998, U.S. farm exports dropped to $53.7 billion and by 1999, exports had sagged to just $49 billion. In that same time, Minnesota corn prices dropped below $2 per bushel. By August 2000, Minnesota corn prices had sunk to $1.40 per bushel – just 35 percent of what the price had been four years earlier.

Some critics dismiss the positive impact of free trade on agriculture, saying only large agribusinesses such as Cargill ever see the benefits. However, there are many examples of small to medium sized farm families and businesses that have directly benefited from expanding foreign trade opportunities.

One excellent example is Kaehler’s Homedale Farms, owned and operated by Ralph and Frank Kaehler of St. Charles, Minnesota. These two brothers, along with 19 other independent cattle breeders, recently exported 150 head of beef breeding stock to the Yunnan Province of China. Kaehler says he and his partners fared very well in the deal. In addition to selling stock at a very good price, the Chinese deal helped the Minnesota and North Dakota ranchers by attracting international attention to their high-quality breeding stock.

There are other examples of Minnesota producers who have benefited from international trade. In November 1999, Ellison Meat Company of Pipestone signed a major export agreement with Nichimen Corporation, a large, diversified company that distributes pork to restaurants and retailers throughout Japan. The agreement calls for exporting nearly 100 metric tons per month of premium pork center loins and other processed pork products to Japan.

Ellison is owned by a group of nearly 80 southwest Minnesota family farm pork producers. The farmers are part of the unique Pipestone System, in which farmers jointly own and operate breeding and farrowing facilities, but raise the hogs to market weight at their own family farms.

Bob Newgord of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, owns and operates Tri-State Seed & Ag, Inc., which primarily trades waxy corn seeds. Two years ago Chinese contacts asked him to supply seeds to Changchun, a major city in Northeast China. The city apparently had built a large specialty corn processing plant, and the Chinese wanted to supply the seed to nearby farmers so they could grow the waxy corn needed to supply the plant.

Last year, Newgord supplied Changchun with a few bags to try out. Subsequently, he sold them 4 metric tons of seed and the Chinese have expressed interest in purchasing up to 40 metric tons of seed.

To help generate more of these sorts of success stories, states and the federal government must work together. Here in Minnesota, one of Governor Jesse Ventura’s top priorities is to help boost the competitive ability of our farmers by reducing their regulatory and tax burdens. We are also working hard to introduce Minnesota producers and agribusinesses to potential foreign customers, but we cannot do it alone.

We need the federal government to help us by opening new markets and leveling the playing field in existing markets. With that in mind, the new Bush Administration deserves credit for placing emphasis on developing trade ties between America and other countries. Specifically, the administration should be supported in its pursuit of Trade Promotion Authority (formerly known as "Fast-Track"), which will help us expedite new trade deals with foreign customers. I encourage Congress to take action to give President Bush this authority.

I also encourage Congress to support the Bush Administration’s attempts to level the playing field between America and our top trading partners during future rounds of World Trade Organization negotiations. Right now, there is a sharp disparity in the level of our partners’ trade distorting domestic support. While the U.S. currently has $19 billion in trade-distorting supports as defined by the World Trade Organization, Japan has $35 billion and the European Union has $68 billion. Those higher levels of domestic support in Japan and Europe mean that our farmers have a strike against them before they even step up to the plate. These disparities must be reduced to allow our farm exporters to enjoy the type of access America gives other nations’ exporters.

There is no doubt that we live in an increasingly global economy, whether we like it or not. Given that our farmers produce much more than our citizens can consume, it is absolutely essential that Congress and the federal government do everything possible to ensure that our farmers have full and fair access to the world’s markets. After all, 96 percent of our potential customers are outside America’s borders. We cannot afford to ignore them.