Upsetting the Apple Cart: "Farmers like Us"

By Kendra Kimbirauskas

Recently, in an attempt to further define the role of the Board of Agriculture (BOA) to the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and help the BOA focus on issues critical to “agriculture,” a survey was circulated to stakeholder organizations – those groups working in the food and agricultural production across Oregon.

According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) website, the State Board of Agriculture’s current mission is to advise the Department regarding:

“the implementation, administration and enforcement of department programs and the development of department policies designed to positively affect the agricultural industry in this state, including but not limited to programs and policies to: 1. Address the continuing changes and adjustments in agricultural industries. 2.Foster the natural resources of the state to provide ample opportunities for productive and beneficial agricultural enterprise. 3.Guide the department in ensuring the viability of the agricultural industry in this state.”

In August, I received a personal call from Board of Agriculture (BOA) member, Lynn Youngbar asking if Friends of Family Farmers (FoFF) would be willing to participate. The call came as a surprise, because historically, the Board has worked exclusively with the agribusiness lobby focusing solely on commodity production. When issues of concern outside the normal scope of the industry have arisen, those matters have been often seen as adversarial or unwarranted.

Given that consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with industrial food, and in light of the mainstream media attention on local foods and family farms, I thought that perhaps the Board was looking to ensure that their work encompasses all issues facing Oregon agriculture. Maybe the Board was looking to turnover a new leaf.

“Absolutely! I would happily fill out the survey. Thank you so much for thinking of us,” I told Lynn, and then I got to work right away polling farmers to ensure that only the most current and relevant information would be provided to the Board.

After a very quick turn-around our comments were submitted. These comments outlined how our supporters felt that the BOA could better target barriers to socially responsible agricultural production and ensure that family farmers remained economically viable in our state. We spoke to the needs of young and beginning farmers, made a case for investment in regional food system infrastructure, called for a solution to the lack of access to meat processing, and encouraged the Board to look for ways to handle the siting of federally-defined concentrated animal feeding operations in areas that are not suitable.

I was informed that the Board would be reviewing all comments from stakeholder groups at their quarterly meeting. Wanting to be on hand to talk about the survey and answer any questions from Board members, I traveled some 350 miles to be in attendance at the meeting held in Baker City.

The events that unfolded that day quickly dampened my enthusiasm and hope that the BOA wanted to sing a new tune. Before too long, it became abundantly clear to me that the majority of the members on the Board had no interest in looking objectively to solve the issues that are impacting all of Oregon agriculture, but rather just the agribusiness lobby. In other words, it was “business as usual.”

The Baker City meeting opened with a presentation by Mr. Barry Bushue, President of the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, and Vice President of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Mr. Bushue was provided the opportunity to set the stage and frame the discussion that would ensue regarding the role that the BOA would play into the future.

In his presentation, Mr. Bushue ridiculed members of the Board for not being “better advocates for the industry.” He stated that despite their appointment to the Board by the Governor, Board members have no responsibility to the Governor, but rather have an obligation to, as Mr. Bushue put it, “farmers like us.”

I am not sure who Mr. Bushue intended to include with his “farmers like us” statement, but from what I could tell, Mr. Bushue was not talking about independent family farmers who are working to farm in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, while trying to remain economically viable. Instead, he was speaking of commodity agricultural production and agribusiness, those associations that have lobbyists and a presence in Salem.

Mr. Bushue went on to direct Board members to “educate” the public, lobby legislators, and leverage votes to benefit the industry. According to Mr. Bushue, the local food movement is potentially the biggest threat to the agribusiness industry that they have seen. To ensure the viability and longevity of agribusiness, he instructed Board members to get out to farmers markets and educate consumers about the benefits of agribusiness so that consumers can remain “well informed.”

After his presentation, many members of the Board thanked Mr. Bushue and before his presentation concluded, Chair Levy expressed his appreciation to the industry and vowed to increase communication so that the Board could be better advocates.

As the meeting progressed, the topic turned to the future role of the BOA and the stakeholder surveys. ODA Director Katy Coba circulated a document that drew conclusions from all the survey responses…except from two stakeholder groups, FoFF and the Oregon Farmers Market Association (OFMA), which she circulated separately. Her reasoning for leaving the two surveys aside was that “all the other questionnaires were relatively similar and these two groups had very different responses to the questions.”

Perhaps this might be a good place to mention that despite the fact that the ODA is responsible for overseeing all issues related to agriculture in Oregon, many of the organizations working on food security, rural economic development, family farm advocacy and local foods promotion were not invited to offer feedback to the BOA. Oregon Rural Action, The Willamette Food and Farm Coalition, the Oregon Food Bank, Ten Rivers Food Web, the Hunger Relief Task Force and Thrive are just some of the many organizations that the BOA neglected to communicate with.

The problem is that the BOA has a very narrow definition of what they perceive to be “agricultural interests.” While the term “agricultural industry” to many of us encompasses all agriculture in the state, to the majority of the members on the BOA, this term solely reflects the agribusiness lobby. To me, the Farm Bureau’s “farmers like us” approach to the issues facing agriculture, and their apparent directive to the BOA to push policies that keep the industry viable, regardless of the associated costs, says a lot about the BOA and ODA’s approach to agricultural policy in Oregon.

Neither the ODA nor the majority of the members on the BOA consider the concerns of socially responsible family farmers to be a priority if those concerns do not align with the top priorities of the agribusiness lobby. Apparently, it does not matter that the average age of family farmers in Oregon is over 57 years old and there is not plan in place for the fact that some 25- 50% of our agricultural land is slated to change hands in the next ten years. Nor does the BOA want to worry about the fact that many meat producers throughout Oregon have little or no access to slaughter and processing and in many cases have to travel hundreds of miles to find such services. Nor does it matter that neither independent family farmers nor the public have any guaranteed voice on the BOA.

In fact, the BOA and the ODA had a victory at the 2009 Legislature, when they removed statutory language that required that two seats on the Board be independent from the industry. I guess we can only hope that the Board will keep the interest of the public in mind, but when Mr. Bushue purports to the Board that he can tell the BOA what’s best for the public, “because he too is a member of the public,” I, personally am not going to hold my breath.

I recently heard Wendell Berry say that we cannot let the greed and the ruinous ways of the industrial system continue to erode our land, our air, our water and our ability to farm. Oregon should be doing better than this and we deserve more from our public officials than what we are getting.

It’s time to show up and be heard. Until the BOA acknowledges, “farmers like us” to include Oregon’s independent family farmers, the policies that this group of people work on are likely to solely benefit the industry. The fact is, unless family farmers and their supporters attend Board meetings and make their concerns known, a majority of the BOA members will never consider our issues legitimate.

When the only ones who are showing up at BOA meetings are the lobbyists for agribusiness, who are pounding their fists and demanding action, it is no wonder that members of the BOA listen. It’s our turn to be insistent, be heard and demand more from those in public positions. After all, we too have a stake in future agricultural policy in Oregon.

FoFF staff and volunteers are committed to be at every BOA meeting but we want your company. Please visit our website and plan to come to the next BOA meeting and make yourself heard. The next BOA meeting will be December 15th and 16th at the Food Innovation Center in Portland.

Please visit: www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org for more information.

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December 08, 2009

"Farmers like Us"

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