11/24/05 Proud to be a farmer...but

Farm and Ranch November 24, 2005 Some comments made by a family farmer at a legislative hearing in Washington state earlier this fall seem fitting for this Thanksgiving Day as we feast on the bounty of American agriculture. The following comments were made by from Harold Cochran, a Walla Walla wheat grower. Cochran: "The thing that has been really hard on me personally and my friends, is that all we do is produce food for our countrymen and the rest of the world. I can't think of a thing I'm prouder to do but we are attacked in the press as despoilers of the environment. Come to my farm any day. I'd be happy to show you what we do to enhance our environment and enhance wildlife. Farmers are the frontline defenders of our environment not the destroyers of our environment. This has led to numerous state regulations, buffers, pesticide laws, burning laws. All these different laws. And they have this cumulative affect. Every time there is something new proposed I have to leave my farm, attend a hearing, testify to save the dams or trying to save using pesticides. That takes our time. We have to stand up. And yet we continue incrementally to lose those battles." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.