For the sixth straight year, fusarium head blight, a major wheat and barley disease commonly called scab, will affect crops this growing season in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota. Coupled with low commodity prices and an erosion of farm equity, another poor crop season will result in an exodus of farmers from this region. This fact is not hyperbole.

The farm crisis facing this region is very real, and the 1990s may rival the 1930s as the worst period ever for agriculture in this region. Some blame the new "Freedom to Farm" legislation for this crisis. We believe Freedom to Farm can work, given adequate crop insurance, adequate production, and adequate markets. Now, however, we have none of those.

Research will help solve scab. We strongly urge changes to make federal crop insurance better, and that self-imposed sanctions and unfair export competition be resolved. We commend lawmakers for already taking steps to move these policies in the right direction. However, the fruits of these changes will occur over the long-term. We cannot stress enough the fact that after five years of scab-induced crop losses- six with this summer-farmers in this region have financially run out of time, and need help now.

We urge that emergency assistance be enacted. We point out that an assistance program is being considered for crop losses caused by El Nino in California and some other states. We urge for an indemnity program, or a paid land diversion to take scab-infected acreage in disaster-declared counties out of production.

An emergency assistance measure would not compromise the principles of Freedom to Farm; rather, it would allow the forementioned bumps in the road-- scab, problematic crop insurance, sanctions, the Asian flu and unfair export competition-- to be fixed so