The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation encouraged Oregon farmers Tuesday to continue speaking with one voice.

Bob Stallman, a Texas rice and cattle producer, addressed mem- bers of the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation at their 75th annual meeting at the Pendleton Convention Center. He said the nation’s farmers need to stand up for their livelihood.

“Some of us think ‘activist’ is a dirty word,” he said. “We all need to be activists on behalf of agriculture.”

Stallman said the American Farm Bureau has been busy this year advocating for the 2007 Farm Bill, among other things.

“We’re not going to get it done ’til next year,” he said, tracing the bill’s history through Congress. He credited the House of Representatives with putting together a good Farm Bill, and said the House passed it before the August recess.

“We were hoping the Senate would follow suit,” Stallman said, adding that the Senate still might pass the bill next week, but then it must go to a conference committee and still faces a presidential veto.

Describing the 2007 Farm Bill, he said it contains $57 billion less spending than the 2002 Farm Bill, but still largely is misrepresented by opponents and in the media. Detractors often focus on the 10 percent of the bill that provides farm support payments. They seldom discuss the 80 percent of the bill that funds nutrition and conservation programs.

“It does touch just about everybody in America,” he said.

Stallman said the agriculture industry is one of the few in America with a trade surplus. While the nation had $70 billion in agricultural imports last year, it enjoyed a record $80 billion in exports. That accounts for about one-third of the nation’s agricultural products.

“We are good at what we do in this country,” he said. “We’re too good.”

Stallman said the American Farm Bureau doesn’t support trade agreements unless they are good for agriculture. He said the organization supported the Peru Free Trade Agreement, which the Senate OK’d Tuesday 77-18.

“It does level the playing field for American agriculture,” he said, noting that previously Peruvian farmers had free access to America while American products faced difficulty getting into Peru.

The president said the Farm Bureau also supports a trade agreement with North Korea.

Turning to labor, Stallman said the United States needs a guest worker program that works.

“We’re a long way from getting there,” he said.

Even though the average agricultural wage is $9.50 per hour today, Stallman said the program is needed because most U.S. citizens “don’t want to do that kind of work.”

The Farm Bureau opposes changing the Clean Water Act, particularly because of one word, he said. The Congressman proposing the changes wants to delete the word “navigable” from the definition of water, which would increase governmental control over all waters, Stallman said.

“It does away with state waters,” he said, adding that among the effort’s main proponents are those in the environmental and regulatory communities.