Farm Groups to Launch ‘Enough is Enough Tour’ Ahead of Farm Bill Debates

Farmers harvesting corn on Oct. 31, 2023, near McIntire, Iowa. Scott Olson/Getty Images

A group of 16 farmer organizations is preparing to launch a multi-state tour as Congress is about to debate the farm bill.

They are calling on Congress to pass legislation that reforms government checkoff programs and creates a “level playing field” for America’s farmers and ranchers.

“The Enough Is Enough Tour is a unified platform for farmers and ranchers to voice the disastrous impacts of the current system on their lives and livelihoods and to demand reforms that bring prosperity and fair competition to agriculture,” said Angela Huffman, vice president of Farm Action Fund, sponsor and organizer of the tour, in a statement.

“Change begins by putting the brakes on the government’s billion-dollar gravy train known as checkoff programs by passing the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act.”

Over the next two months, the farm groups will host events in at least five states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, Alabama, and North Dakota. The tour is slated to begin in Clearwater, Minnesota on May 14.

“A major focus of the tour is to highlight corruption in government checkoff programs, which compel farmers and ranchers to contribute a staggering one billion dollars annually and which have been co-opted by corporate interests,” the group said in a press release.

“Checkoff dollars are often funneled to lobbying organizations that represent the world’s largest meatpackers and grain traders, which then work against the interests of the very farmers and ranchers mandated to pay into the programs.”

Organizations supporting the ‘Enough is Enough Tour’ include: Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association; American Grassfed Association; Buckeye Quality Beef Association; Competitive Markets Action; Dakota Resource Council; Farm Action; Farm Action Fund; Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming; Kansas Black Farmers Association; Montana Cattlemen’s Association; Ohio Farmers Union; Organization for Competitive Markets; Pennsylvania Farmers Union; R-CALF USA; Western Organization of Resource Councils, and Wisconsin Farmers Union.

Funding Ad Campaigns

Checkoff programs require farmers and ranchers to pay a certain percentage of their harvest or an amount per head of cattle to fund ad campaigns, such as “Got Milk?” or “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” and other government campaigns to promote a specific commodity, according to Food and Power.

The first checkoff program was implemented nearly 60 years ago to promote the use of cotton. The Cotton Research and Promotion Act of 1966 taxes cotton producers at $1 per bale and 5/10 of 1 percent of the bale’s value, and importers are also taxed at an equivalent rate on imported cotton and cotton-containing products.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), these taxes bring in $70 to $80 million annually to fund research and promote cotton.

Since 1966, the USDA has approved and implemented 22 checkoff programs.

Groups of farmers have pushed unsuccessfully for reforms or the elimination of checkoff programs.

In 2000, a group of pork farmers voted 53 percent to 47 percent in a referendum to end the National Pork Producer’s Council checkoff program, but the USDA essentially ignored the vote and reinstated the program.

Five-Year Farm Bill

In November, Congress extended the 2018 five-year farm bill for one year. It is set to expire on Sept. 30 but could be extended again if lawmakers are unable to complete the legislation.

“Tough decisions are ahead of us, but we should not walk away from the process,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) during a Senate floor speech last month.

“It’s a dereliction of duty to the farmers and ranchers of America. I’ve been through numerous farm bills. They’re always hard, and they’re always late, and we never get them done easily. But this seems different to me for the first time saying, ‘What we have is what we get.’”

Mr. Moran said many of the farm bill’s provisions need to be reworked to account for shifting market demands, drought, and inflation.

“The inflation-adjusted net farm income was a record-setting $196.4 billion in 2022,” according to the USDA.

“In 2023, net farm income is forecast to have decreased by 18.9 percent relative to 2022 and is expected to further decrease by 27.1 percent in 2024. Farm production expenses are projected to have decreased by 1.3 percent relative to 2022 and to increase by 1.6 percent in 2024.”