Recognizing Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Producers

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize our Nation's hardworking and dedicated farmers, ranchers, and other producers.

In 1978, radio broadcaster Paul Harvey addressed the Future Farmers of America at their annual convention and delivered a powerful message that highlighted the importance of our Nation's farmers.

He said: And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said: I need a caretaker. So God made a farmer. God said: I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper, then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board. So God made a farmer. God said: I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild; somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife is done feeding visiting ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon and mean it. So God made a farmer. God said: I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt and watch it die, then dry his eyes and say: Maybe next year. I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make a harness out of haywire, feed sacks, and shoe scraps; who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday noon and then painin' from tractor back, put in another 72 hours. So God made a farmer. God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in midfield and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer. God said: I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bales, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who would plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed, and rake and disc and plow and plant, and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self- feeders and finish the hard week's work with a 5-mile drive to church; somebody who would bale a family together with the soft, strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says that he wants to spend his life ``doing what dad does.'' So God made a farmer.

Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, it is my honor to advocate for their interests and ensure that they have certainty and stability for generations to come.

Even though Paul Harvey wrote these remarks about our Nation's farmers, it encompasses so much more than that. Our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers are essential in providing food, fiber, and fuel to our Nation and the world.

Mr. Speaker, food security is national security. As we head into the holiday season, I recognize and thank our Nation's producers for their contributions to our everyday lives.

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