FARM ACTION FOCUS: FARMERS ARE FED UP — USDA SECRETARY REINFORCES CORPORATE CONTROL OF OUR FOOD SYSTEM |
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack was recently interviewed on the agency’s efforts to promote fair competition in the agriculture industry. When asked about how he responds to those who question his commitment to taking on Big Ag, Vilsack said: “People can criticize. I don't pay any attention to it. My focus is on trying to make sure that small and mid-sized operators have a fair shot.”
But it’s the small and mid-sized farmers who are criticizing him. They’ve grown tired of waiting for USDA to finalize regulations that would help level the playing field for family farmers and small businesses, like critical rulemakings to strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act. Time is running out for USDA to act on meaningful system reform, but Vilsack has other priorities in mind. Learn more in our “News to Chew on” blog.
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WE TOLD CONGRESS: OPPOSE THE EATS ACT AND SUPPORT CHECKOFF REFORM IN THE FARM BILL |
Last week, Farm Action Fund joined Competitive Markets Action to meet with 94 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives about two critical farm bill issues: Stopping the EATS Act (Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act) and supporting the OFF Act (Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act).
During our EATS Act discussions, many members of Congress were alarmed by the catastrophic consequences of this bill. |
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Whether they were concerned about its implications for states’ rights, or its impacts on farmers and ranchers, consumers, public health, the environment, or animals, there was widespread agreement that the EATS Act is bad news for everyone except a handful of global agribusinesses. |
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We aren’t alone in ringing the alarm about EATS to Congress: Just this week, 16 State Attorneys General sent a letter to Congress opposing the bill, and more than 500 veterinarians have come out against the legislation.
Our discussions about the OFF Act were equally encouraging. Legislators were disappointed to learn about the rampant abuses in government checkoff programs. Currently, checkoff programs funnel farmers' tax dollars to industry lobbying organizations — representing the world's largest meatpacking corporations like Tyson Foods — which promote policies that harm our environment, abuse farm animals, and drive farmers and ranchers out of business.
We will keep up the fight for a Fair Farm Bill that works for everyone, not just a handful of corporations. |
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FARM ACTION MOVEMENT NEWS |
Marcia Brown, POLITICO ‘Rome’s Burning’: Small Farmers Complain Biden Administration Is Fiddling as They Vanish
Farm Action recently gave USDA a “C” grade in our report card on the Administration’s efforts to increase food system competition, citing the lack of progress on its Packers and Stockyards Act rulemakings. Talia Duffy, Investigate Midwest The National Pork Board Gives More Grant Money Than Any Other Checkoff. Critics Say it Favors Big Pork.
While the pork checkoff is supposed to represent the industry as a whole, much of the checkoff-funded research only applies to big industry needs. “The research has been captured by the biggest meat companies,” said Joe Maxwell.
Diego Flammini, Farms.com Ag Group Supports Right to Repair Legislation
Farm Action Fund endorsed The Agricultural Right to Repair Act, which would establish a comprehensive framework to give farmers the right to repair their equipment as they see fit. Marcia Brown, POLITICO (paywall) USDA publishes 2020 Dairy Checkoff Report, Two Others Still Pending
“It is unfortunate that it took a letter from Congress to shake USDA's tree and get them to respond to the farmers they should be accountable to,” said Angela Huffman. |
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CHECKING IN ON CHECKOFF REFORM |
Bipartisan Members of Congress Call out USDA’s Ongoing Failure to Publish Dairy Checkoff Reports
Last week, a bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers sent a letter urging USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to submit annual reports on the dairy checkoff program to Congress, as required by federal law. |
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Secretary Vilsack failed to deliver these reports for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 — meaning dairy farmers have been denied access to reports detailing the efficacy of programs they are forced to fund. |
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The Congressional letter comes after Farm Action and the National Dairy Producers Organization exposed the missing reports in June, and requested their release in a letter to the USDA. |
House Checkoff Debate Opens Door for Inclusion of OFF Act in Farm Bill
This week the House considered an amendment introduced by Representatives Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) to the Agriculture Appropriations bill that would have prevented USDA from implementing checkoff programs. While the amendment did not pass, it opened the door for a debate on checkoff reform in the farm bill through a separate proposal: the OFF Act.
The OFF Act would not end the checkoff, but simply bring the minimum level of transparency and accountability one would expect for a government program. We thank Representatives Spartz and Massie for calling out the corruption within checkoff programs during Tuesday night’s debate on this amendment. Check out the debate highlights in our tweet thread.
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Meet the Beef Checkoff’s Million Dollar Man As more voices join the call to reform corrupt checkoff programs, the beneficiaries of checkoff funding are scrambling to protect their slush fund. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) — the primary contractor for the beef checkoff — gets 70% of its funding from checkoff fees paid by ranchers. To defend this funding from reform efforts, NCBA points to studies that claim large return on investment (ROI) figures for the checkoff. |
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But that return on investment amount is actually “beef industry producer profit” — meaning that it is multinational corporations like Tyson and JBS reaping all that profit, not the ranchers paying into the program. |
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But it gets worse: The man behind these misleading studies gets paid big bucks — funded by ranchers’ checkoff dollars — to justify NCBA’s chokehold over the industry. Learn more in our “News to Chew on” blog. |
What a Government Shutdown Means for the Farm Bill
On Sunday at 12:01, unless members of Congress agree to a Continuing Resolution, our government will shut down for the first time since 2018. Last time, Congress successfully passed the farm bill before funding ran out, but this year we're not as lucky. The farm bill was already heavily delayed, but a shutdown will all but guarantee that we will not see a new farm bill until 2024. And because of dysfunction in the halls of Congress, that shutdown is all but certain.
During a shutdown, Congressional activity is severely curtailed. While many staffers are designated as "exempt" and will continue to work during the shutdown, official activity is limited. Committees are unable to meet or mark up legislation, meaning work on the farm bill will slow. Worse, most staff at the United States Department of Agriculture who would provide necessary feedback and technical assistance on complicated farm bill programs will be sent home and prevented from working. This means that the final, last-mile details of critical farm programs cannot be worked out until the government is refunded. All in all, this will lead to serious delays in a process that is already significantly behind schedule.
Senate Hearing on Foreign Farmland Ownership
There was bipartisan support for addressing the harms caused by foreign corporate farmland acquisition at this week’s Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. The hearing highlighted that the agencies in charge of reviewing foreign farmland ownership are under-resourced, and demonstrated the need for additional investment to monitor these acquisitions and investigate how to best establish guardrails to protect America’s farmers.
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FARM ACTION WEIGHS IN ON CRITICAL ANTI-MONOPOLY RULE PROPOSALS |
At Farm Action, we pride ourselves on getting in the weeds about anti-monopoly reform and value the opportunity to participate in the regulatory process. |
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The comment period is a critical step in this process where the public can submit input before an agency makes a final decision on a proposed rule. In our comments, we provide agencies with the legal framework for their authority to stop monopolistic behavior. |
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Farm Action recently submitted a public comment to DOJ and FTC in strong support of the agencies’ updated merger guidelines. The new merger guidelines will provide critical protections for a free and fair economy so farmers and small businesses have a fighting chance against big corporations. Learn more about our comment.
On Wednesday, Farm Action submitted a comment to the FTC in support of its proposal to improve Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification rules for the first time in 45 years. The changes would empower FTC to more quickly and accurately identify threats to competition in agriculture and across our economy. Learn more about our comment.
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Here’s what the Farm Action team has been reading:
The AP reports that FTC and 17 states are suing Amazon over allegations that the company abuses its position in the marketplace to inflate prices on and off its platform, overcharge sellers, and stifle competition. “What’s being said now in political circles is that the EATS Act is dead, which hallelujah if it is,” Brad Clemens, president of Clemens Food Group, told Agri-Pulse. 1819 News reports that poultry processing giant Koch Foods refused to renew an Alabama poultry farmer's contract after he spoke out about Koch's expensive farm upgrade requirements.
DOJ is suing Agri Stats Inc. for organizing and managing anticompetitive information exchanges among broiler chicken, pork, and turkey processors.
Reuters reports that researchers from Mexico are making progress on non-genetically modified (GM) yellow corn production in an effort to replace imported GM corn from the U.S.
NPR reports that there's an uptick in consumers suing food companies for misleading claims, and law firms are eager to take these cases due to the large payouts.
“The OFF Act can provide a much-needed measure of transparency, ensuring that producers can see their money is not being used to lobby against their own interests,” writes Farm Action Local Leader Ben Buchanan in his Lancaster Farming op-ed. Civil Eats reports that the Federal Crop Insurance program often leaves farmers who employ conservation practices uninsured or underinsured, while subsidizing farmers who use extractive and industrialized conventional farming methods.
Agricultural right to repair has made its way to Michigan. "It’s time for the Legislature to pass this bill so farmers can save both time and money when it comes to something like a simple tractor fix," writes Joanne Galloway in her Bridge Michigan op-ed.
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Our work is made possible by supporters like you. Please consider making a donation to fund our fight to create a food system that works for everyone, not just a handful of powerful corporations. |
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Written and edited by: Jessica Cusworth, Dee Laninga, Angela Huffman, and Joe Van Wye. |
Farm Action develops and advances bold solutions to stop corporate monopolies and empower farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. Our political partner organization, Farm Action Fund, is building the political muscle to take action in our state and federal capitols and at the ballot box.
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Together, our farmer-led organizations represent a seamless chain of action from research and policy development, to the adoption of the policy through legislative action by elected officials who support our vision. |
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