Family Farmers Speak Up at the Ballot Box

Looks like the good folks in ND had their say.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-n...0Z10DU?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

While I work for a fortune 50 company we are not AG related and strive to make quality a top priority. AND we are USA owned.

Wouldn't it be nice if the government could keep their nose out of it! Maybe it would be a bad thing? Would have to
look at all angles of it.

These ballot proposals are a bigger threat to this country than lawyers. There's a reason the framers of the constitution set us up as a representative republic,now everybody is using ballot proposals to use the constitution as toilet paper.

Some of you will probably grill me for
saying this, but if it would do away with
the Belgians and Dutch around here without
touching the smaller farms, I'd be all for
it. The problem isn't so much the dairy
itself, it's the sand haulers and liquid
manure going out, the 2 heaviest materials
they have. I would be happy if they had to
abide by the weight laws as much as everyone
else does, provide at least one class A
paved road linking to another class A road
to get everyone in and out without
destroying everything, and maybe if they had
to pay for it, they'd think twice about
turning it into trash. And maybe a manure
treatment plant such as a city has. Some
liquid sludge, a lot of dry sludge. My boss
went to something put on by a local college.
Their figures were that there are 43,000
people in Gratiot county, and 50,000 dairy
cows now. Thats fine and all, but a study
they did about the amount of manure is
comparable to 606,000 people, or twice the
population of Detroit. But they can turn a
field into a pond with cow manure. Not the
problem, the problem is getting it there,
95% of the time with 8500 gallon tank semis
or 10,000 gallon tractor drawn tanks.
Unfortunately the small guys aren't making
much money, but it appears it isn't hurting
the foreign guys much, as at least one of
each of the many owned by the 3 foreigners
are all adding on, paving driveways, putting
concrete to keep dust down around their
buildings. Not small projects, multi million
dollar ones. Buying any land they can to
dump manure on. Unfortunately, both of the
legislators in Gratiot county are against
manure restrictions, and won't listen to
limitations on it. As I said, I'm all for
the small guys, unfortunately they can't
compete around here anymore. As the
foreigners take land from them, they can't
afford to buy it or rent it at the rate that
they will pay. You can hammer me all you
want,but I have to deal with these guys
numerous times a week, and I won't change my
mind.

We talked about this in an earlier post. This ballot issue will NOT make the smaller farmer any better off than he was yesterday or the day after tomorrow. Actually he will have fewer choices then than he would have with the current corporate laws they have.

An example I want to start a livestock feeding operation in ND. I find a nice young farmer that would love to partner with me to do it. We have zero blood relation. We want to incorporate the business,50/50. Guess what. Under the law that they just voted back in, that corporation would be illegal.

LOOK around yourselves. There are NOT large corporations buying up hundreds/millions of acres in the US. The average corporation in the US, that is involved in agriculture, is not a fortune 500 company.

What they have done is make it so there will be fewer choices for the local farmers to survive in today's market. Do you think that ND law effects the world market a single penny???? So the farmers in ND will still have to compete with farm entities that are incorporated to save money in various ways.

I think it is the forein goverments that is the money in back of those places, not the people whose names are listed. And I am sure we have that same thing here in Ohio.

I have believed that myself for a long time. Many of them run Fendt or JCB tractors too, might as well support the home country as well. Funny it's like a free for all here, as over there they can't even run duals on the road.

Do you have any proof backing up your post?

It was a 75% to 25% vote had to be something there as its almost impossible to get 75% of voters to agree on anything.You only need 2/3 majority to change the US Constitution.

Does that include handing out mega $$$$ too? Like subsidies and crop insurance.Farmers are only 1% to 2% of the voters so they're lucky to get as good a deal as they do.Heck Pat
Paulson got more votes for President than that(LOL)

RB, no idea where you're at, but are you a ND resident with $$$ tied up in agriculture that has researched this matter with an open mind and taken a chance at realizing how this arbitrary law has stifled ag investment in ND?

What if a similar law prevented corporations from owning implement dealerships, hardware stores, and medical practices (for example), driving folks away to invest their money in businesses in neighboring states? I mean, we may as well have the "warm and fuzzy" family-owned places like that, but we DON'T.

WHAT would the public outcry be over that if other businesses were prevented from becoming incorporated




LOTS of non-farm folks with no actual interest in the matter at hand voted on a warm and fuzzy manner.

Our only hope at this time to get out of the Dark Ages in this matter is if the ND Farm Bureau's court challenge to the original law being unconstitutional is upheld.

North Dakota's Farmers Union SUPPORTED the measure so it wasn't the 'other folks' that were for it apparently the family farmers supported it.

Just thoughts but most come from countrys with very limited agricultur areas and I believe the products produced go back to feed those countrys and how is anyone going to be able to aquire that much cash to moove and buy all the land then put up all the buildings. They have to have backing of some kind that is not avaible to local people.

Did most of you miss the "This February, a U.S. district judge issued an injunction barring Nebraska officials from enforcing the state's ban on farmland ownership by corporations." part of the article? So it may wind up that the people just wasted a lot of tax dollars for this vote that may be overturned by the courts. ND had a referendum vote on gay marriage a little while back that court rulings blew out of the water too. Now here is the real funny part. Go take a look at the average size ND farm. The smallest I know of is 1500 or so acres! ND is BTO heaven! So the BTO's fooled the voters in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Minot to voting their way so they have less competition to grow their farms even larger as land becomes available.

I guess not many remember that during the Carter Regan recession that this same issue came up. "Dem Danged Furinurs" were buying up all the farm land. That really hasn't been an issue now has it? I doubt it's going to be an issue now.

Rick

Denying farm businesses the advantages of corporate structure in my view is only denying the existence of the inevitable. The world is a
very small place today and the multi nationals have a lot of power.... and you're all going to compete with them on a small scale by
denying yourselves a corporate structure? Get real.......
On a broader scale we've done that in Canada with supply management. While on one hand it provides decent returns without costing the
consumer any more money... it has at the same time limited growth and deprived the industry of scale investment required to compete on a
global scale. The cost base distortion is so great today that if deregulation did take place, most couldn't compete anyway. The other
offset here is that regulation has squeezed the processing sector so much and deprived it of scale.... that it has come to the point where
the processors are simply pulling out of this market, period. So unless some smartening up soon happens, there will be no industry before
long.
So.........be careful what you wish for.....

Rod

Ya it includes the money also. It is nice but if you are depending on that then might as well quit.

Another thought here. The US is based on capitalism. Our laws support it yet a state did to vote to curtail it?

Rick

(quoted from post at 04:48:47 06/16/16) North Dakota's Farmers Union SUPPORTED the measure so it wasn't the 'other folks' that were for it apparently the family farmers supported it.

Click to expand...

NDFU is a leftwing nnalert organization, while ND Farm Bureau is right-wing/nnalert. GUESS which I am a member of.