Times have changed along with the way farm products are marketed.  We are now told that factory farms are the only way farmers can make a living in a global market.  We’ve been told that housing developments are the biggest threat to family farms by driving up the price of land.  I’m sure most farmers are aware of the following information but a lot of concerned non-farmers are not.

A group of residents in Martell Township and I are very concerned about the proposed dairy operation that Mr. Dean Doornick wants to build in Martell Township.  The facility will contain 850 cows on 45 acres of land.  The five million gallons of liquid manure will be stored in clay lined lagoons.  This type of lagoon is legally allowed to leak a certain amount under the existing permit regulations.

On April 18, 1999, I attended the Taking Action on Concentration and Monopoly in Agriculture Forum that was held at the Drovers Inn on Concord Street in South St Paul, MN.  I will try and summarize the main topics covered by using my notes and information from literature that I received there.
 
U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, MN, and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, IA, gave the introduction and welcome.

Opening comments were made by Joel Klein, Asst. Atty. General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Dept. of Justice, and by Michael Dunn, Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, U.S.D.A.

Wisconsin Sen. Alice Clausing was among legislators, state officials, representatives of farm organizations and farmers from the Midwest and as far away as Texas that were there.

Testimony on mergers and antitrust from William Heffernan, a University of Missouri rural sociologist, was very informative.  Agribusiness is morphing into a handful of mega-corporations at an unprecedented rate.  One estimate is that there was $3.5 trillion worth of agriculture merger activity in 1998 alone and 1999 is shaping up to be even bigger.

We were told studies show that between 1984 and 1997, the price of a market basket of food (adjusted for inflation) rose 2.8 percent.  During that same period, the amount the farmer received for food dropped by at the least by 35 percent.  An example is that the supermarket price for pork didn’t drop in proportion to the drop in price family farms received for their hogs.

According to economic literature, it is no longer a competitive situation when four businesses control 40 percent or more of the marketplace.

• DuPont and Monsanto virtually own the biotech-based seed market for U.S. corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton production.
• Five firms--IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, National Beef and Packerland control 83 percent of the U.S. beef packing industry.
• Six firms--Smithfield, IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland Industries and Hormel, control 75 percent of all U.S. pork slaughter.
• Six firms--Tyson Foods, Gold Kist, Perdue Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, ConAgra and Continental Grain, grow and slaughter 58 percent of all U.S. broilers.
• Four firms--ADM, ConAgra, Cargill, and Cereal Foods own and operate 62 percent of all U.S. flour milling.
• Four firms--ADM, Cargill, A.E. Stanley and CPC Int’l. own 74 percent of the U.S. corn wet milling industry.
• Four firms--ADM, Cargill, Bunge, and AGP do 80 percent of all U.S. soybean crushing.
• Four firms--the proposed Cargill/Continental marriage, ADM, a joint venture between Bunge, ConAgra and Farmland, and an alliance between Cenex-Harvest States, ConAgra and Farmland control 60 percent of all U.S. grain export facilities.
• Land O’ Lakes is the 14th largest hog factory corporation in the U.S.

Europe and Great Britain will not import any farm produce that has been grown using genetically engineered seeds or dairy products produced using the bovine growth hormone.  They have grave concerns over these products long-term effect on consumer’s health.

To maintain a steady flow of farm produce at a price they can control and predict, these corporations have started contracting with factory farms.  Ninety-five percent of broilers are produced under production contracts with fewer than forty firms.  The production system is about the same for turkeys and eggs.  Twenty feedlots feed about half the cattle in the U.S. and these are either owned by the slaughtering firms or have contracts with the processing firms.

At the end of low hog prices, which may last for at least another year, there will be few independent hog farmers left.  The farmers from southern Minnesota told how they received lower prices for their hogs than the factory farms that had contracts with the meat packers.  They also told us the ground water was polluted from all the factory farms in a small area and that property values had plummeted.

Dairy farms are being consolidated, leaving only the cow/calf sector out of the integrated system for now.  This is creating an unfair advantage resulting in independent farmers being unable to make a profit and forcing them out of business.  This is a violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

The Justice Dept. and the U.S.D.A. were requested to act now and work together to investigate and enforce violations of the anti- trust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act. Mr. Michael Dunn and Mr. Joel Kline stated they would look into these issues.

Are the family farms being forced out by factory farms due to violations of anti-trust laws and by violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act that are not giving the family farm a fair and open market for their products in today’s markets?  The testimony I heard from the speakers and from family farmers indicates that is what is happening.

Would you, as a consumer, rather buy produce and dairy products from a family farm that are produced normally, or produce that has been genetically engineered and dairy products produced by using bovine growth hormone?

Free copies of Dr. William Heffernan’s study Consolidation in the Food and Agriculture System can be obtained on the Internet at Error! Bookmark not defined.. or by calling the National Farmers Union at 1-800-347-1961, extension 2525.
 

Environmental and Health Concerns

What is best for the rivers, groundwater and the community you live in-- a factory size dairy, hog or poultry operation next door to you, or your village, or the family farms we have now?  Think about it now before it happens to you.

A group of residents in Martell Township and I are very concerned about the proposed dairy operation that Mr. Dean Doornick wants to build in Martell Township.  The facility will contain 850 cows on 45 acres of land.  The five million gallons of liquid manure will be stored in clay lined lagoons.  This type of lagoon is legally allowed to leak a certain amount under the existing permit regulations.

The environmental danger to the Rush River and our groundwater is an issue that should be studied very thoroughly.  The Eau Galle-Rush River Sportsman’s Club led by Arby Linder, the Ellsworth Rod & Gun Club and the Wisconsin D.N.R. have worked together for 25 years so that now the Rush River is one of the top trout streams in the Midwest.

Would you, as a consumer, rather buy produce and dairy products from a family farm that are produced normally, or produce that has been genetically engineered and dairy products produced by using bovine growth hormone?

Based on studies by the environmental protection agency, runoff from factory farm operations has caused serious damage to the environment.  On June 12,1998, manure runoff from a large dairy in Manitowoc County, WI created a spill into Lake Michigan that stretched for one quarter of a mile killing thousands of fish.  Wisconsin has one of the oldest programs in the country aimed at controlling polluted runoff from farms.

The nutriment management plan is weak because of its failure to require setbacks from ecologically sensitive areas, which can endanger natural resources and groundwater and the lack of inspectors to determine compliance.  The latest report I have shows only five inspectors statewide.
 
This hasn’t been a problem in our county because family farms use good conservation practices and are concerned about their neighbors and the environment.  There have been several family farms that have received awards for their conservation work.  I have been told that large operations don’t have the time or money required to follow these practices.
 
 I followed the Rush River upstream this spring during the muddy spring runoff.  I found very little silt running into the river until I reached the farms in the Rush River watershed in St. Croix County.  The worst soil runoff was from CTH "Y" and 18th Ave to STH "63" and CTH "E".  The fields in this area were plowed in the fall and manure was spread on top or tilled in.  This had been done right up to, and in some places, into the Rush River.

The Rush River is normally a dry run in this area, but during spring runoff and heavy rain, runoff washes soil and animal waste down into the Rush River and causes silt and nutrients to be deposited in the trout stream. Upstream from STH "63" and CTH "E" the water was clear.  I spoke with the St. Croix County Soil and Water Conservation Department in Baldwin about this and they admitted these were not good farming practices, but there was nothing they could do about it.  The D.N.R. in Baldwin said they would look into it but stated there was not a lot they could do about it either.

The factory-scale farms are relatively new to Wisconsin because strict water quality laws have discouraged them from coming here.  In the past few years the state has provided planning grants and other incentives to stimulate economic development.  This has provided the incentive for smaller farms to expand but has also made factory farms possible.

Under the Priority Watershed Program the state develops a watershed plan tailored to the individual farm site that includes best management practices, such as moving feedlots off hillsides where runoff could pollute a stream, to building concrete and steel manure lagoons.  Arby Linder, President of the Eau Galle - Rush River Sportsman’s Club, has served on a committee to try and include the Rush River in this program.

I spoke with Ruth Stern, Supervisor of the Pierce County Land Conservation Department, about when the Rush River can be included in this program.  She stated that right now they have the Kinnickinnic River and the Plum Creek in the program and don’t have the staff to start any new ones until more work is done on these.  She stated the Trimbelle River would probably be next and then the Rush River.

Considering the risk to the Rush River, the groundwater and the objections of the neighbors, sportsmen and residents of Martell, why doesn’t Mr. Doornick find a better location?  We can’t move the Rush River or our community.

On May 11,1999, at 8 PM, the residents of Martell Township will meet at the Martell Townhall to discuss and vote on an ordinance to regulate factory farms in the township.  This ordinance will not affect any farming operations that are in operation in Martell Township prior to this date.

- Harold & Connie Fosmo