Kerry talks jobs, hog lots in Iowa visit

[Feanorcurufinwe]

By JONATHAN ROOS
Register Staff Writer
08/13/2003 Mason City, Ia. - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry touted the strengths of his candidacy while talking about hog lots and jobs during a campaign swing Tuesday through northern Iowa.

The Massachusetts senator auditioned for more than 100 Democrats at a Mason City bowling alley and restaurant, telling them he is uniquely qualified to take on President Bush.

<snip>

Kerry embraced a favorite issue of many party activists in pledging to deal firmly with large corporate hog operations that are seen as a threat to the environment and family farms.

"It's pretty clear that they ought to be regulated like the industrial entities that they are," said Kerry before embarking on a drive-by tour of such facilities in the Mason City area.

Kerry said he would ensure that federal agencies work with states to enforce environmental regulations. He also would appoint an attorney general who enforces antitrust laws when agribusiness mergers reduce competition and affect livestock prices.

<snip>

Full Article: http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/21984949.html

[blm]

1. At first, I thought it would be

another Harley shot.

Glad he's on the hog farm issue. It's a huge problem here in SC and NC.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. Kerry lays out ag policy

Kerry lays out ag policy
KLEMME, Iowa, — Standing in front of a hog confinement operation owned by the DeCoster family, U.S. Sen. John Kerry said Tuesday the “corporatization” of agriculture is destroying the family farm and pledged that as president he would press for reforms.
.
“Corporate farmers ought to be regulated like the big-time industries they are,” he said.
Kerry, D-Mass., one of nine Democrats seeking the party’s 2004 presidential nomination, offered a five-point program of reforms.

“Corporations have an unacceptable concentration of power. We need to restructure environmental laws and we need an attorney general who understands anti-trust laws and enforces them,” he said.

Kerry’s reform plan calls for:

• Banning the corporate packer ownership of livestock.
• Restructuring the Environmental Quality Incentive Program to ensure it benefits family farmers, requires a comprehensive nutrient management plan and ensures its funds are used as intended.
• Enforcing antitrust laws if a merger reduces competition to the degree that if affects prices to hog producers.
• Protecting independent farmers from discriminatory pricing.
• Insisting the EPA and USDA work together to work with states to set and enforce environmental protection rules and laws.

Full article: http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1016251&t=Iowa+%2F+Illinois&c=24,1016251

[kwolf68]

3. YES

“Corporate farmers ought to be regulated like the big-time industries they are,” he said.

“Corporations have an unacceptable concentration of power. We need to restructure environmental laws and we need an attorney general who understands anti-trust laws and enforces them,” he said.

BING-F***ING-O

Only Dennis Kucinich has Kerry beat on this issue. I am so glad to hear Kerry talking about these issues. He and Kucinich are the ONLY ones I trust on the farming issue.

[blm]

4. Here's the full press release from August 12:

John Kerry Says "We Must Protect The Family Farm Against Corporate Hog Lots"


August  12,  2003


Klemme, IA - John Kerry toured hog lots in North Central Iowa on Tuesday en route from Mason City to Webster City via Algona.  He was accompanied by farmers, environmental activists and community leaders who talked about the impact of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on rural Iowa.  John Kerry stood on the porch of Gloria Goll’s home to view the hog confinement facility alongside her property and see first hand the harmful effects these lots have had in places like rural Hancock County.

“Here in Iowa and all over rural America family farms and small businesses are under assault by giant corporate hog lots that use their influence to get special favors, that refuse to compete on an level playing field, that pollute the environment, and that undermine the values and way of life of small town America,” said Kerry.  “George W. Bush has protected these colossal corporate hog lots from competition at the expense of the family farms that have made America great and made our nation good.”

“It’s time we had a President who didn’t just listen to the voices of the big and the powerful, but who heard the concerns of everyday Americans and their families and the communities they call home.  That’s what the hog lot issue is all about.  And that’s why I am ready to carry on this fight until our work is done.”

John Kerry proposed a five point plan to combat the power of large corporate hog operations and help protect family farms and the rural way of life:

• Ban the packer ownership of livestock

• Restructure the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to ensure they benefit  family farmers, require a comprehensive nutrient management plan, and ensure that its EQIP funds are used as intended.  Payments would be lowered to benefit family farm-sized livestock operations from the current level of $450,000 per farmer down to $150,000.  Furthermore, the "partnership loophole" must be closed so that large operations can no longer allow the $450,000 limitation to be multiplied by the number of partners in each operation.  Also, EQIP funds need to be used efficiently, rather than going towards new or expanding operations, for new facilities sited in a floodplain, or for entities with multiple CAFO's.

• As President, Kerry would appoint an Attorney General who will enforce anti-trust laws if a merger reduces competition to the degree price is affected to hog producers. To that end, Kerry has called for a thorough investigation into Smithfield's acquisition of Farmland – a merger that will result in the loss of a significant buyer in the marketplace, especially for North and Northwest Iowa. 

• John Kerry will ensure that independent farmers are protected from
discriminatory pricing.  Under George W. Bush, the USDA has been dragging its feet when it comes to providing transparent information about contract deals with packers.  Small and independent farmers deserve a Department of Agriculture that doesn't disregard the need to investigate price discrimination of smaller producers.

• Ensure that the EPA and USDA that will work with the states to set and enforce
 environmental protection rules and laws that protect families and communities from practices that are harmful to our air and water quality.
In the past 6 years alone, the number of hog operations has declined by 72 percent nationally.  And two percent of the remaining hog operations control nearly half of all hog inventory.  This means these enormous corporations get huge profits while independent farmers and local entrepreneurs get left in the cold and frozen out from doing business. 

 

[Nicholas_J]

5. Expect very soon

To see references to Dean's bringing in large agro business to Vermont, and the loss of 36 percent of its small family owned farms during Deans governorship. This opposite in nature to the Kerry agro proposals, and Deans actual performance in Vermont, the statistics of small farms going out of business while Dean greased the way for large agriculatural business will be somethiing that may very soon change the Iowa polls.

[DrFunkenstein]

6. I've Read This, Actually

It may have to do with Dean scrambling to balance his budgets, but it is also about the choices you make. Personally, I'd rather go into the red a little if it meant that small farmers could work their land for a profit. That's my vision of America. You know the kind you only see in credit card commercials.

[Nicholas_J]

7. Google on

Lucien Breton...

It is a very very hidden Dean related event, and related to a big bacon, pork and egg business, One other source to google is "Vermont Egg Farm"

If it is a huge problem in SC and NC. look at what Dean did in Vermont.

WHen he came into office 70 percent of all Vemront Farms were small family owned farms, by the time he left, it was 56 percent.

There is an old saying among environmentalists and Vermont farmers about Dean. that E.P. did not mean Environmental Protection, but
Expedite Permits.

[Parche]

8. oink

So he can take on the pig bush

[Feanorcurufinwe]

9. More on Kerry Ag Policy

Work for Fair Treatment of Family and Small Farms: Small farmers deserve a fair chance to sell their livestock on the open market. John Kerry supported a ban on packer ownership of livestock, which drives small- and family-owned producers out of business. He has also supported limits on subsidies that flow to the largest farming operations because currently just 10 percent of farms receive two-thirds of payments and 60 percent of farms get no subsidies at all. And he has voted to limit the proliferation of animal confinements, which produce more pollution and put family operations at a disadvantage.

Encourage Renewable Energy: John Kerry has been a strong supporter of renewable fuels, including ethanol, biomass, wind and biodiesel. Kerry believes that renewable energy, grown on America?s farms and produced in producer-owned facilities, must be part of America?s energy future. It will reduce pollution and our dependence on oil. The federal government must lead the way by funding research and development and by creating a national market for renewable fuels.

Support Rural Conservation Efforts: John Kerry believes that good conservation practices are important to a new farm policy. He would ensure valuable conservation programs such as the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Conservation Reserve Program receive adequate funding. Kerry has also supported federal funding to help rural communities provide clean drinking water and proper waste disposal.


Much more at: http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/agriculture.html

[lkinsale]

10. Well, "hay"...speaking of pork processing

Graham Calls for Investigation into Pork-Processing Industry Consolidation July 22, 2003

Washington, DC - Senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.) called on the Justice Department today to look into how the pending sale of Farmland Industries Inc.'s pork processing operations to Smithfield Foods will affect farmers and consumers.

Graham is one of a bipartisan group of nine senators who signed a letter sent today to Attorney General John Ashcroft asking him to investigate the sale. "The immediate impact of such a transaction could very well be devastating to some regional markets," the senators said in their letter.

"I am angry that much of rural America is left behind in todays economy," Graham said in a statement today. "I believe strongly in opportunity for all Americans. Unfortunately, in George Bush's America many family farmers and rural Americans are struggling to earn a decent wage and pay their bills. This concentration of corporate agribusiness scares me because it will make life harder for family farmers to compete in the marketplace. We need to focus on helping independent producers gain more power, and not allow all the power to go in the hands of a very few large corporate agribusinesses."