LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Struggling family farmers are in the nation's capital today to rally for higher price supports and relief from rising fuel prices. Kathleen Koch is in Washington this morning. She's got the latest on this rally for rural Americans. We go to her now live -- Kathleen.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. Well, in about a half an hour, this tent will be filled with nearly 2,000 farmers; they're holding a prayer service, but it's congressional, not divine intervention that they're hoping for. They've bussed to Washington from across the nation to let lawmakers know that family farmers are in deep trouble. The price of crops, for instance, corn, wheat, soybeans, have dropped to their lowest level in nearly 15 years; that, while the cost of diesel fuel has more than doubled over last year. Of course, diesel fuel is what farmers use to run their farm machinery. Many farmers will soon start that spring planting; they're very worried about the cost of diesel. Then there's also the issue of drought. Forecasters are warning we could have more serious droughts, just like farmers suffered last year. So farmers are saying that they want new crop subsidies. Congress pushed through a law, mainly Republicans did, back in 1996 that eliminated many price supports. Now, since then, Congress has had to past several multibillion-dollar bailout packages for farmers, more than $8 billion last year alone. Farmers are also asking for protection from agricultural mergers. These mergers create mega-companies who make it very tough for small family farms for get fair prices for their crops and to survive. So they have a long wish list. They're hoping that their numbers will get Congress's attention. Reporting live in Washington, I'm Kathleen Koch.</s>HARRIS: All right, thank you, Kathleen. Search CNN.com CNNSI.com CNNmoney.com The Web
Farmers Gather in Washington to Rally for Higher Price Supports