Missouri family farmers and conservationists have submitted thousands of petitions in support of Country Origin Labeling, Anti-Trust enforcement, and the prevention of foreign corporate ownership of Missouri farmland. The Missouri Rural Crisis Center reported that over 9,900 signatures on petitions were submitted at the U.S. farm bill listening session today, which was held at the state fairgrounds in Sedalia. 4th District Congressman Mark Alford hosted the listening session, as Sedalia is located within his district.
Tim Gibbons, a representative of the rural crisis center, stated that the farm bills present a pivotal opportunity to establish agricultural policies that benefit farmers, the land, rural communities, and our food system. He emphasized that recent Farm Bill policies have promoted concentration, vertical integration, corporate dominance, and now, foreign corporate control within the U.S. food and agriculture industry. According to Gibbons, these policies adversely affect family farms, consumer choices and prices, rural communities, and their economies, national security, natural resources, the climate, and the democratic process.
Missouri boasts the second-highest number of family farms (95,320) and the second-largest number of cattle operations (53,497) among all states. Gibbons, along with other advocates, is urging for the 2023 farm bill to chart a new direction. This direction should emphasize economic viability, vitality, and sustainability for farm and rural communities, food security, decentralized production and processing, conservation, climate change mitigation, and fair compensation for all participants in the food system, including farmers, workers, and consumers. In essence, Gibbons believes that the United States requires a Farm Bill that is crafted for and by its citizens, rather than one designed for and by corporations.
Among the individuals who submitted statements was Doug Doughty, a cattle and grain farmer from Livingston County. In his prepared remarks, Doughty expressed that Congress should cease allocating conservation funds (from the EQIP program) to CAFOs, especially when independent family farms are excluded from these crucial programs. He highlighted that the EQIP program, established in 1996, was not intended to serve as a “Christmas Tree” for CAFOs. A recent study revealed that the USDA rejected approximately three out of every four farmers who applied for EQIP in 2022. Doughty emphasized that the U.S. should return to the original purpose of programs like EQIP and make them accessible to a diverse array of farming operations.
(Photo by Loren King on Unsplash)
