Keep Farmers Farming – Protect the Harvest and Our Members

This week another state will ask voters to stand up for the folks who produce the nation’s food, fuel and fiber. They are the backbone of our rural communities and the customers who purchase the equipment that keeps our members in business.

This time the battleground is Missouri, where voters are being asked to add a Farming Rights Amendment to the state constitution. The question on the ballot is fairly clear, “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to ensure that the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices shall not be infringed?”

The vast majority of the state’s ag organizations are backing passage of the amendment and have raised and spent over $1 million encouraging its passage.

With estimates showing that by 2050, agriculture will be required to increase its productive capability by no less than 70% to feed the growing world population and avoid widespread famine, who would be opposed to protecting farmers?

In the last few weeks the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has cut a check for $375,000 to the political action committee opposing the amendment. Previously, that PAC, known as Missouri’s Food for America, had raised just $46,000.

“Not only do these men and women face the daily challenges that farm life brings, but oddly, they find themselves in constant defense against enemies that want to change their way of life and put many of them out of business. Animal rights and environmental extremists have systematically targeted Missouri’s farming community in an effort to bury them under a mountain of ridiculous, misguided and crippling red tape.”

While we agree with the above observation, the quote is not ours, it comes from the president of the state’s farm bureau.

Sadly, some in government are all too willing to help those who target production farming. The EPA tried to pass rules that would have banned dust on farms. The NLRB tried to make it illegal for kids to help out on the family farm. Activists in Congress even tried to hijack the farm bill with hidden restrictions that would have decimated animal agriculture.

It’s hard to believe that we have a need to reaffirm the rights and freedoms of our farmers and property owners.

Due to the extreme lengths to which activist groups and their partners in government will go, many in our industry have concluded that it is, in fact, necessary to amend state constitutions to add clarification and protection for farm families and our industry.

Our Fall Marketing and Distribution Convention in Las Vegas will give members a chance to focus on the many public policy issues that affect our industry. In this issue of our newsletter, we announce some of the speakers and topics.

Be it your first meeting or part of your regular fall schedule, we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to become more involved in our Association.

Our Product Councils and Committees are addressing serious issues, from proposals to adopt additional industry standards for the equipment we build to addressing public policy issues such as axle weight limits and tracked implements. For this Association to best represent all of our membership, we need a broad representation of companies to be active and to take leadership roles. In addition to the general election of our Directors, each of our Product Councils will elect its leadership during this meeting in Las Vegas. We encourage each member company to make time in your schedule to attend this three-day industry meeting.

Flights to Las Vegas are plentiful, our room rate at the Rio is only $99 per night, and if you register by August 16, you can save over $200 on our meeting registration fee. S