Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this amendment is to provide $1.5 million in Federal funding for a revival of the National Agri-Tourism Initiative under the USDA Rural Community Advancement Program.

Mr. Chairman, I do not have to explain to anybody in this room that family farmers all over this country are in desperate condition. Commodity prices are extremely low, and we are seeing the loss of thousands and thousands of family farmers and the way of life that many rural communities in Vermont and throughout this country have known.

What this amendment does is pretty simple. What it says is that in many States like mine, people come to rural areas because they enjoy the beauty, the incredible beauty that farmers help create.

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Mr. SANDERS. I thank the chairman very much. I will be very brief. Just to say that I think we can all agree that we want to help family farmers increase their cash flow, and one of the ways we can do that is enable them to come up with ideas that will bring tourists to their farms, and that is what this amendment is about. It has worked well in Vermont up to now. I think it can work well all over the country. I thank the chairman very much for his support and Ms. DeLauro as well.

Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this amendment is to provide $1.5 million in Federal funding for a revival of the national agri-tourism initiative under the USDA Rural Community Advancement Program. This program received $1 million in the fiscal year 2000 Agriculture appropriations bill. The House provided $2 million in the fiscal year 2001 Agriculture appropriations bill, but unfortunately this funding was stripped in conference, and this program hasn't received funding since. Mr. Chairman, it is time to bring this program back to life. Family farmers today need all of the help that they can get if they are going to stay in business, and agri-tourism is one way to help them.

Mr. Chairman, it is imperative that in Vermont and throughout rural America we preserve family owned farms and maintain strong rural economies. As family farmers struggle to survive, it is important that we develop new sources of revenue for them. Reviving the national agri-tourism program will help family farmers increase their incomes. From creating advertising campaigns and working more closely with the tourism industry, to developing farmers' markets, food festivals, bed and breakfasts and farm tours, such programs have great potential for increasing the incomes of family farmers.

Mr. Chairman, family farmers throughout this country deserve more revenue from tourism than they are currently receiving. Many tourists come to rural America because of the beautiful agricultural landscape. Unfortunately, however, family farmers receive relatively little direct revenue from that tourism. This program will help put more tourists' dollars into the hands of our farmers and that is very important.

Specifically, Mr. Chairman, this amendment would help farmers with the knowledge, networks, markets and loans critical to starting-up farm-based businesses that take advantage of the tourism dollars coming into their States.

Let me give you some examples of what agri-tourism is all about and why we need additional help for family farmers to get involved in this growing enterprise. Family farmers throughout this country are converting their guest rooms to small bed and breakfast operations, and are making a few bucks in doing that. To be successful, they might need a loan to convert a room into a bed and breakfast, and they might need some help in learning how to market their enterprise.

Farmers are now encouraging tour buses to stop by and to learn what family agriculture is about. In order to be successful, they might need a loan or a small grant to build a restroom or a parking facility. Farmers might want to build snowmobile trails through their fields in the wintertime. It costs a little bit of money to do that and advertise what you have.

A farm family that grows apples might want to add value to their product and bake apple pies, and they might need some help in buying a large enough oven to do that and to get started in a small business venture.

The list goes on and on. But family farmers all over this country, who desperately want to stay on the land, increasingly are trying to take advantage of the tourism that comes into their region.

Family farmers all across America desperately need the kind of funding that this agri-tourism initiative would provide. The agri-tourism initiative can mean the difference between another family farm going out of business or finding a way to thrive.

To put it simply, agri-tourism funding is about saving family farms.

Without this kind of funding America will lose its family farms, agriculture will cease to be competitive and consumers will pay the price of shortsighted government policies.

Mr. Chairman, family farmers deserve the support of this Congress. I urge my colleagues to stand up for America's family farmers and support this amendment.

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