LET ME apologize for being a little late, but I was meeting with some of Senator Packwood's and Senator Hatfield's colleagues in the Senate, and it took a little longer than we anticipated.
I do want to congratulate the Ottomans for being the Farm Family of the Year. I noticed that potatoes, barley, and hay are Oregon's main products.
It is real nice to have you here and to participate with the two Senators and my good friend, Al Ullman, who is your Congressman.
Farm Family of the Year--I think that is a great, great achievement. Six percent of our population is on the farm, and so you are the top of 6 percent of our population. You can't do better than that.
But I know first, family life and agriculture, both of them contribute very significantly to a better America.
So, I just want to thank you for achieving it and congratulate you for the fine honor that has been accorded to you.
Note: The President spoke at 1:15 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. Mr. and Mrs. James R. Ottoman and their three children were selected in the 1975 Farm Family of the Year competition sponsored by the Farmers Home Administration.
Gerald R. Ford, Remarks on Greeting the National Farm Family of the Year. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256125
