To the editor:

George Will (Journal-World, Aug. 16) shared the good news that Bob Zoellick, Bush administration trade representative, succeeded in “prying open” 147 economies. This “Herculean task” was achieved by agreeing to make “substantive reductions” in domestic farm crop support payments, starting with a 20 percent cut. I’ll hazard a guess that that 20 percent cut won’t be apparent to many farmers until fall harvest is past, the election concluded, and finally crop support checks come in the mail.

If farmers across the country generally recognized that their incomes will be substantially reduced in the next two or three years, rural voters in several “secure Republican” states might have second thoughts about the Bush administration.

Alongside farmers’ reduced income will be their increased costs of petroleum-based inputs. In an article (Journal-World, Aug. 18) Michael Economides, University of Houston engineering department, is quoted: “We will see gas prices rise above $50 a barrel … And we will never see oil below $30 again.” Another speaker, Henry Groppe, an oil industry analyst, said tight supplies and high demand would keep oil prices up for at least six years — until alternative energy sources come on line, and reduce oil consumption. “Groppe … has a track record of consistent accuracy in (oil) trend forecasting.”

Don’t tell the farmers!

Mark Larson,

Lawrence