Is U.S. agriculture destined to be an also-ran, following
textiles, shoes, automobiles, furniture, and other industries
that have seen major chunks of their markets taken away by
foreign competitors?  With the cost-price squeeze increasingly
pushing American farmers to the wall financially, a
predominantly urban population and Congress ever more hostile to
federal farm programs, a world trade community that's gunning
for U.S. farm subsidies at every turn, and relentless
competition from countries that have abundant cheap labor, few
regulatory restrictions, and other advantages, will our food and
fiber become just more offshore commodities?  Already, Brazil
produces more soybeans than the United States, it's the world's
low-cost producer of ethanol, and with massive land areas that
could be opened to production, it has the potential for
significant increases of commodities that could undercut the
United States in the marketplace. Other lower cost producer
nations dot the globe.  While U.S. farm supports consti