MR. PIERCE: Hi. I'm Rod Pierce. I farm 30 miles northwest of Des Moines. I farm 1,500 acres; half corn, half soybeans. I used to feed 2,000 head of hogs but quit last year due to the depressed prices. I feed out 320 head of cattle in a custom lot.

My grandfather crossed the ocean at age 16 looking for a better life. Working in coal mines northwest of here, he saved enough money to buy 45 acres of farmground. My father expanded and helped start three of his four boys in farming before retirement. My grandfather's strong work ethic has been key in three generations of successful farmers.

This year hard work will not cure our financial problems. Farmers are too proud to ask for handouts, but too financially stressed to not accept them.

Each of our generations have experienced breakthroughs in agriculture. For my grandfather it was hybrid seed corn. For my father it was commercial fertilizer, and for me it has been biotechnology.

Biotechnology has provided many traits that increase productivity and profitability with reduced costs, increased production, and value-added traits. A big benefit for farmers and consumers is that we apply fewer pesticides to control insects such as corn borers.

Before Bt corn was developed, it's estimated that the damage from corn borers cost U.S. farmers $1.2 billion a year. We also used herbicide-resistant hybrids and varieties on our farm. These let us use more environmentally friendly chemicals and lower our input costs, lowering -- thus lowering our cost of production.

All of the GMOs I plant are approved for export. My concern is the GMOs of the future. Will the EU create a doubt in consumers around the world? Will consumers base their buying on emotion instead of scientific facts?

U.S. agriculture needs the export market to survive. One out of every five rows of corn we plant goes for export. We currently need more exports to clear out our oversupply of grain. We farmers have a duty to keep harvested grain from nonapproved biotech hybrids out of the export channel. We also need the new GMOs to be approved in a timely manner.

While the EU has approved most products, they have not made any new approvals in 18 months. Approvals for new trades are stalled. The EU regulatory system is not working and is disrupting world trade, thus affecting Iowa farmers. Farmers don't want to be blocked from using the new technology because of the Europeans.

All of this creates confusion among farmers and elevators as to what products are approved. The public needs to know that the U.S. government scrutinizes all crops with biotech trades that are commercially grown in the U.S.

I feel the government should stress the need for and support the adoption of an EU regulatory system that works. Most of the issues involving biotechnology are already covered under trade agreements we already have, and the U.S. government should use the upcoming WTO negotiations to address the problems of biotech trade. I support the commodity and agriculture groups that are calling for a single undertaking of the WTO talks instead of individual sector-by-sector talks.

Just as my grandfather experienced rough waters as he crossed the ocean for a better life, I, as a farmer, am experiencing rough waters. As he put his faith in the ship's captain, I put my trust in the USDA to point the compass in the right direction to secure a future for the crops developed using biotechnology.

Thank you.