360 North Robert Street Suite 500 Phone: 651 223.5400 Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101 Fax: 651 223.5335 Internet:
[email protected] Web site: www.flaginc.org TESTIMONY OF LYNN A. HAYES FARMERS’ LEGAL ACTION GROUP, INC. (FLAG) BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY APRIL 18, 2007 360 North Robert Street Suite 500 Phone: 651 223.5400 Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101 Fax: 651 223.5335 Internet:
[email protected] Web site: www.flaginc.org My name is Lynn Hayes. I am an attorney and the Program Director at Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG), in St. Paul, Minnesota. Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony regarding “Economic Challenges and Opportunities Facing American Agricultural Producers Today.” The concerns I raise have been developed through our work with the Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform, Rural Advancement Foundation International–USA, Western Organization of Resource Councils, and other farm organizations, as well as FLAG’s work with individual farmers and ranchers. I. FLAG’s Work Related to Contracts, Competition, and Concentration in Agriculture Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc., is a nonprofit, public interest law center that provides legal education, training, and support to family farmers and ranchers and their lawyers and advocates across the country. Over the past two decades, FLAG has provided legal education or assistance to thousands of small- and mid-sized family farmers throughout the nation who produce agricultural commodities under contract. FLAG’s former executive