the hearing of subcommittee on general farm commodities and risk management entitled reviewing the state of the farm economy will come to order. good morning and thank you for joining us, as we look into this critical aspect of our economy. every one of us seated up here has heard from farmers in our districts about the bad farm economy. commodity prices are low, input costs are rising and financial pressure is mounting on farmers across this country. while we hear so much about the booming state of the overall economy, our rural and farm economy continues to struggle. you cannot have a successful national economy when such a vital component hurts the way our farmers are currently. the numbers paint a rough picture. usda forecasts net farming level for 2019 to be only 77% of the annual average for 2000 through 2017. it s down 50% from 2013 alone. inflation-adjusted farm debt is the highest it has been since 1980 and the debt to asset ratio for farmers is rising steadily. th
aspect of our economy. every one of us seated up here has heard from farmers in our districts about the bad farm economy. commodity prices are low. input costs are rising. and financial pressure is mounting on farmers across this country. while we hear so much about the booming state of the overall economy, our rural and farm economy continues to struggle. we cannot have a successful national economy when such a vital component hurts the way our farmers are currently. the numbers paint a rough picture. usda forecasts net marm income levels for 2019 to be only 77% of the annual average for 2000 through 2017. it s down 50% from 2013 alone. inflation adjusted farm debt is the highest it has been since 1980. and the debt to asset ratio for farmers is rising steadily. this hearing offers a glimpse of how the economy is affected for particular farms in different parts of the country. these are four stories about what the downturn in the farm economy means to them. the 2018 farm bil
pressure is mounting on farmers across this country. while we hear so much about the booming state of the overall economy, our role in farm economy continues to struggle. you cannot have a successful national economy went some a vital component hurts the way our farmers are currently. the numbers paint a rough picture. usda forecast net farming level for 2019 to be only 77 percent of the annual average for 2000 shootouts isn t 2017. it is down 50 percent from 2013 alone. inflation-adjusted farm debt is the highest it has been since 1980 and the debt to asset ratio for farmers is rising steadily. this hearing offers a glimpse into how the economy has affected four particular farms in different parts of the country. these are 4 stories about what the downturn in the farm economy means to them. the 2018 farm bill divided certainty for farmers by reauthorizing commodity programs and continuing crop insurance. the farm economy is better off, because the farm bill passed, but is th
meghan stas, senior director and grocery manufacturers association here in washington, d.c. and diana aviv, kre feeding america in chicago, illinois and emily leib, the director of food law policy clinic, harvard law school, jamaica plains, massachusetts. i ll let everybody get to their seats. all right. miss gunders, if you will begin when you are ready, ma am. ranking member peterson and members of the committee thank you for inviting me to testify today and be willing to explore this issue. any name is dana gunders, i m a senior science at the national resources defense council and the author of a widely cited report on food waste and a book called the waste-free kitchen handbook which is a guide to not wasting food. imagine walking out of the grocery stores with five bags in the parking lot and dropping two and not bothering to pick them up. it seems crazy but that is what we re doing when we are wasting 40% of our food. we re leaving entire fields unharvesting and
not to have to file, or pay federal income tax. but one of the things i ve not really heard anybody address, we talked about in here the need for the minimum wage to be raised. and when there was an article written recently that indicated for an individual who just accepts the available federal welfare payments, they may be looking at $1,700 a month take home whereas under the current minimum wage it s about $1,200 take-home. well, the incentive there is obviously not to work. but i know my friends at heritage have encouraged as a solution lowering the minimum wage. obviously, that would even increase the disparity between what you take home if you don t work and what you take home if you do work. if you lowered the minimum wage. so that s obviously not going to fix the problem there. but if the minimum wage is raised in puerto rico, since as my friend from california s indicated they have a higher minimum wage, then people would be tempted to go from puerto rico to californi