Amber Waves of Gain

AMBERAmberW AWavesVES OF of Gain:GAIN: How the F a r m Bureau Is Reaping Profits at the Expense of America’s Family Far m e r s , Taxpayers and the E n v i r onment April, 2000 DEDICATION This report is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Y. Resnick, the two-term congressman from New York who first exposed the Farm Bureau as not being the organization of farmers it claims to be. Resnick launched an investigation of the Farm Bureau in 1967 and resumed it after leaving politics in1969. He died later that year, but the probe he initiated and funded continued, culminating two years later in the publication of the book Dollar Harvest, a major exposé about the Farm Bureau by former Resnick aide Samuel R. Berger. This report builds on the foundation laid by Resnick and resurrects his call for the dealings of the Farm Bureau to be closely examined on Capitol Hill. AMBER WAVES OF GAIN Table of Contents Foreword..............................................................................................iv Executive Summary...............................................................................v Introduction: The Farm Lobby Colossus..............................................1 1. Emphasizing the Bottom Line..........................................................8 2. Plumping for Factory Hog Farms ..................................................19 3. Changing Rural America................................................................30 4. Cooperating with Conglomerates...................................................34 iii 5. Taking Care of Business..................................................................46 6. Pushing an Anti-Wildlife Agenda...................................................56 7. Spinning the Global Warming Issue...............................................62 8. Putting Pest Control Before Human Health...................................66 9. Aligning With the Extreme Right...................................................75 Conclusion: A Call to Common Ground............................................84 Appendix 1. Farm Bureau Connections..............................................85 Appendix 2. Tax Treatment of Unrelated Business Income for Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations................90 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PRINCIPAL AUTHOR: Vicki Monks CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Robert M. Ferris, Vice President for Species Conservation Program, Defenders of Wildlife Don Campbell PROJECT MANAGER: Robert M. Ferris RESEARCH COORDINATOR: Heather Pellet, Species Conservation Program Coordinator, Defenders of Wildlife RESEARCH: Scotty Johnson, Rural Outreach Coordinator, Grassroots Environmental Effectiveness Network (GREEN) Roger Featherstone, Director, GREEN Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group (Dan Carol, Catharine Gilliam) Rob Roy Smith, Species Conservation Program Intern, Defenders of Wildlife William J. Snape III, Vice President for Law and Litigation, Defenders of Wildlife Joe McCaleb EDITING AND PRODUCTION: James G. Deane, Vice President for Publications, Defenders of Wildlife Kate Davies, Publications Manager, Defenders of Wildlife Maureen Hearn, Editorial Associate, Defenders of Wildlife DESIGN: Cissy Russell ABOUT DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most progres- sive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. Defenders uses education, litigation, research and promotion of conservation policies to protect wild animals and plants in their natural communities. Known for its effective leadership on endangered species issues, Defenders also advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that protect species before they become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders of Wildlife is a 501(c)(3) membership organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has nearly 400,000 members and supporters. Copyright ã 2000 by Defenders of Wildlife, 1101 Fourteenth Street NW,Washington, D.C. 20005; 202-682-9400. Visit our website at www.defenders.org and our children’s website at www.kidsplanet.org. Cover Illustration: David Chen/The Stock Illustration Source Printed on recycled paper. AMBER WAVES OF GAIN Foreword Foreword n December, 1997,Defenders of Wildlife heard deeply disturbing news. A federal district judge in Wyoming had ruled that Yellowstone and central Idaho wolf reintroductions car- ried out by the federal government in 1995 and 1996 were unlawful and that the thriving Inew wolf populations must be removed. Since their former territories in Canada were by then occupied by other wolves and there wasn’t room for them in the nation’s zoos, it appeared that the wolves would have to be killed. The ruling threatened to erase years of hard work by the government and conservation- ists and to destroy what has been called the most popular and successful wildlife restoration effort of the 20th century, an effort in which Defenders had been a leader for two decades. The most significant plaintiff in the lawsuit responsible for the court decision was the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF — or the Farm Bureau). AFBF and its state and county units regularly oppose not only measures to sustain and recover endangered species like the wolf but many important environmental protection efforts. The organization also is negative toward other widely accepted laws and public policies. Its 1998 policy manual, for example, advocated repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, opposed registration and licensing of firearms and advocated abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. From its name, one might suppose that the Farm Bur eau exists to serve American family farmers. In reality the Farm Bur eau is a gigantic agribusiness and insurance conglomerate. Th e majority of its “me m b e r s ” are not farmers, but customers of Farm Bur eau insurance companies and other business ven t u r es. Yet the organization’s nonprofi t status allows it to use the U.S. tax code to help build a financial war chest with which it pursues an extreme political agenda, while doing little for — and sometimes working against — America’s family farmers. We decided that we should try to find out more about this politically powerful organization and make what we learned available to the public. The result is the accompanying report. We would have liked to examine more of the Farm Bureau’s operations but lacked the time and resources to do so.We believe the public deserves to learn the full facts about this huge financial conglomerate that purports to be the voice of America’s family farmers. Rodger Schlickeisen President, Defenders of Wildlife AMBER WAVES OF GAIN Foreword Executive Summary he American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) — with its roughly 3,000 constituent state and county farm bureaus — ranks among the richest and most powerful non- governmental organizations in America. AFBF claims to have more than 4.9 million Tmembers. It has artfully portrayed itself as the voice and champion of our nation’s family farmers for nearly 80 years. The vast majority of the Farm Bure a u ’s members, howeve r , are either policyholders of one of numerous insurance companies affiliated with state farm bureaus or are customers of other farm bureau business ven t u r es. (At latest count there wer e some 54 farm bureau insurance companies.) Such members have no say in establishing or carrying out Farm Bur eau policies and, in most cases, have no particular interest in agriculture. AFBF spends a great deal of money and time opposing environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts, wetlands laws and pesticide regulations. But the organization’s views may have more to do with its own finan- vi cial interests than with the views of its members or the needs of the family farmer. AFBF is allied with some of the nation’s biggest agribusinesses. It has large investments in the automobile, oil and pesticide industries, often supports factory farming rather than family farming and regularly opposes government regulation to reduce air and water pollu- tion and pesticide use and to protect wildlife, habitat, rural amenities and food quality. It is critical of efforts to counter global warming. It has opposed the registration and licensing of firearms. It has advocated repeal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, one of the nation’s key civil rights laws. It has advocated abolition of the federal Department of Education and of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It has launched lawsuits to halt reintroduction of endangered gray wolves. It is allied politically with, and provides funding for, right-wing interests and the so-called wise-use movement, which works for the supremacy of private property owner- ship and against the protection and conservation of public lands. The Farm Bureau’s policies are set by voting delegates at its annual meetings. Many high officers of the national and state farm bureaus also serve as officers or directors of the insurance companies and of Farm Bureau cooperatives and other businesses. Defenders of Wildlife first investigated the Farm Bureau because of the longstanding Farm Bureau lobbying campaigns against wildlife and environmental protections. We found, AMBER WAVES OF GAIN Foreword however, that the Farm Bureau not only opposes our core mission but also works actively against the interests of rural communities and mainstream America. A significant problem facing rural communities in the last decade has been the rise in factory farms which produce hundreds of thousands of hogs every year. The Farm Bureau has

Load more