I welcome this opportunity to talk about a very important subject area: how national economic policy affects agricultural trade.

The farm economy is so well integrated into the national -- and international -- economy that conditions on Wall Street and in financial districts the world over often affect agriculture's health as much as farm programs and the weather. With today's globally interdependent agriculture, international business Cycles have a major impact upon the Nation's farmers as well, especially as they affect exports of U.S. agricultural products.