On an individual basis, the committee members and I visited with Missouri Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent and Representatives Kenny Hulshof and Ike Skelton. This year's format did not allow us much time for many personal visits, so we missed some of the individuals we traditionally visit with. Every year when we make these visits, we thank these individuals for what they do for agriculture.

We had no shortage of things to talk about this year. Thankfully, we have an administration that is forcefully pressing agriculture's case against the European Union for its acknowledged trade barriers against biotechnology. U.S. corn growers have lost sales approaching $1 billion due to the European moratorium. That's money straight out of the pockets of Midwest producers.

Still, USDA economists predict net farm income will increase more than 50 percent from last year. That's good news to all of us who have worked so hard at cutting overhead and watching expenses for so long. We in agriculture have had many long, lean years to get our financial house in order. We've streamlined processes and consolidated debt. We must now convince government to strengthen the nation's infrastructure.

Government can do that in many ways. The first of which is to appropriate funds for completing lock and dam projects as well as operations and maintenance on the Mississippi River. It is an economic issue vital to keeping U.S. agriculture viable. Our competitor nations in South America continue to open rivers for transporting agricultural supplies and products. Simultaneously, we have 50-year-old structures that have outlived their useful lives. This work needs to be completed.

In addition, although everyone in agriculture is pleased with the recent court decision emphasizing operation of the Missouri River water levels for the benefit of navigation, we all realize the victory is temporary. We need federal support for maintaining the river for the benefit of agriculture rather than recreation and wildlife. All of us in agriculture depend heavily on barge traffic to move goods and set rail prices. Adequate water levels are critical to the support of agriculture's infrastructure.

We also hope our elected leaders will oppose attempts to raid funding levels in the 2002 Farm Bill. The House and Senate appropriations committees and subcommittees face significant pressure to alter funding provisions. Specifically, committee members are receiving pressure to alter the marketing loan program, direct and counter cyclical payments, and conservation programs.

At the same time the rest of agriculture hopes for good economic news, the dairy sector continues to struggle. Dairy producers face the lowest milk prices in decades. According to Washington, much of that disaster can be traced to an oversight in the original negotiations for GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and affect milk protein concentrate and casein used in cheese production. As a result, imports of these two products have risen from 50 million pounds before GATT to 200 million pounds in 2002.

The National Milk Producers Federation estimates dairy producers have lost more than $1.2 billion in the last 2 years because of these imports. Fortunately, the U.S. House and Senate have submitted legislation to give the President authority to renegotiate this oversight and ensure that our solution is compatible with World Trade Organization rules. The issue needs all of agriculture's support as do our dairy producers.

That's the bottom line. From livestock to row crop, agricultural producers need to stick together, support each other and work toward a common goal: improving prices. I realize many routes lead to the same destination, but we will all accomplish much more if we present a united front to the nation. Your board members did just that.