MR. COOPER: Greetings to you, the Panel, on this important issue today. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you in this listening session. My name is J.B. Cooper. I am a farmer active in the production of cotton and grain sorghum since 1950 in West Texas. I'm a member and patron of Farmland Industries through my association of two local cooperatives in my home area. I've been a director of the Farmland Industries board in years past and now serve on the Gulf Nations Council for that organization.

Farmland Industries is the nation's largest farmer-owned cooperative. Founded in 1929, it is a federated co-op of over 1,700 cooperative partners and 600,000 farmer-owners who make up the Farmland Cooperative System. Farmland has major businesses, units in fertilizer, meats, grain, feeds, petroleum, and shipping. Focusing on meeting the needs of tomorrow's customer, Farmland has adopted business strategies to meet the demand of global consumers that is a producer-owned cooperative.

The future economic well-being of American agriculture is closely tied to our competitiveness in an expanded global market. The importance of trade to the future of American agriculture has been emphasized in the 1996 Farm Bill, with the reduction in support of farm for an estimated 35 percent of gross receipts by the year 2003. U.S. trade policy must reflect a strong commitment to expanding world markets.

The importance of trade is underscored by America's shrinking share of the world's population. America now comprises only four percent of the world's population, and we're experiencing minimum population growth while many of the countries that we trade with are experiencing significant population growth. To further add to this phenomena is a growing strength of the middle class. The power of emerging middle classes worldwide made up of consumers with the ability to shift their consumption patterns have become a critical factor driving consumer markets.

In India, for example, there's 115 million new members in the middle class in 2005. In China there will be 196 million more members of the middle class by 2005. These new middle class consumers around the world represent a booming potential market for our foreign products.

The Farmland System has developed business strategies focused on tackling the potential of the emerging world markets. During the past six years the Farmland System's international sales have grown from less than 200 million to over 4.1 billion dollars. In Mexico, since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, our trade has increased from less than 50 million in 1992 to 450 million in 1998.

The annual sales of Farmland Industries over the last couple of years has amounted to over 10 million dollars. So about 40 percent of the total sales of Farmland Industries, which is what the cooperative has now, is made up of international sales.

As you prepare for the upcoming trade round this November in Seattle, please consider the following items that we hope to illustrate: Elimination of export subsidies, tariffs must be

further reduced, State Trading Enterprises must evolve to full price transparency and eventually to free market entities, the rules governing sanitary and phytosanitary measures must continue to be strongly based on sound science and risk assessment, assure trade in genetically-modified organisms is based on fair, transparent, and scientifically acceptable rules and measures.

Negotiations should be comprehensive, with the use of expedited actions and timeliness, with the same undertaking during the next round of negotiations. Dispute settlement mechanisms must be shortened and there must be an end in the process. If countries are permitted to disregard dispute settlement findings, producers will have -- lose confidence in the multilateral trading system.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today and provide comments on priorities for the upcoming trade talks. American farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness people are growing more and more dependent on international trade for their livelihood and it is becoming increasingly important for the U.S. government to have a trade policy that is strongly committed to expanding opportunities for American farmers, ranchers, and businesses. Thank you.

MR. GALVIN: Thank you, Mr. Cooper. We appreciate it.