NO EASY ANSWERS FOR AREA FARMERS

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Just what should Congress do to address the sagging farm economy?

Jo Ann Emerson raised the question with a group of about 15 Perry County farmers who crowded into farmer Steve Huber's kitchen Monday morning to meet with the Republican congresswoman from Cape Girardeau.

None of the farmers had any easy answers, although they all would like to see fewer government regulations in their lives.

Huber urged Emerson to continue to battle government regulations that interfere with the operation of family farms.

Emerson visited the Perryville area farm to kick off her annual farm tour through the district. The tour is slated to end Thursday.

Farmers would benefit if the federal government cuts taxes, opens up new agricultural markets and provides regulatory relief, she said.

Federal environmental regulations make it tough on farmers, Emerson said, but farmers won't see any relief as long as the Clinton-Gore administration is in office

After the meeting, Huber said he doesn't support the idea of putting government limits on agricultural production in an effort to raise prices.

"We want to do our thing," said Huber, a fifth-generation farmer who grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on his 250-acre farm. He also raises beef cattle.

"As far as production controls, we hope we don't get into that again," he said.

Farmers are seeing low commodity prices because of an abundance of crops worldwide, he said, adding that farmers compete in a global economy and need increased markets abroad and at home to boost the prices of agricultural products.

Erwin Kassel, a farmer and president of the Perry County Farm Bureau, doesn't want production controls either.

"I don't think cutting back production is going to do us any good," he said. That would only make it more difficult to secure export markets.

Emerson said boosting ethanol production and sales could help the farm economy, and repeal of the estate tax would help family farms, too.

Emerson also touted efforts in Congress to allow drug wholesalers and pharmacists to import lower-cost medicines to counter the high cost of medicines on the domestic market.

Americans pay two or three times more for medicines than citizens of other countries, she said.

"The bottom line is we subsidize the rest of the world," said Emerson. "There is still no excuse why we are paying so much more than anybody else."

Pharmaceutical companies are making enormous profits, Emerson said, adding: "It is totally unfair."