ISSUE: SAVING FAMILY FARMS
University of Illinois Policies Unfair to Family Farmers
*High Cash Rent Policy Favors Mega-Farmers,
Hurts Rural Communities
*Practise Contrary to U of I Own AG Policy
FSIA/CIOP Study: AT WHAT COST? June 2007
Read the Report
Read the Story in the Peoria Journal Star
Joel Janisewski, staff organizer
Farmers Supporting Independent Agriculture
joelj@insightbb.com
309-830-2233
MEETING NOTES
1) Family Farm & Rural Community Loan Program
- FSIA leaders along with urban FSIA supporters from Decatur, Champaign, and Springfield met with Regions Bank on December 12th to
address the bank's poor dealing with FSIA
- In January, Regions Bank gave FSIA a proposal describing low interest loans for family farmers who buy agricultural inputs locallyFSIA's leaders and supporters stood-up for local family farmers and Regions Bank agreed to deal in good faith with FSIA and local family farmers
- FSIA leaders meet with Regions Bank in Decatur on February 7th to discuss the proposal and steps for moving forward
2) University of Illinois - Farmland Management.
- FSIA testimony at the board of trustees meeting has been postponed until the Tuesday, March 13th meeting in Urbana (watch for upcoming announcements about FSIA involvement!)
- FSIA leaders met with trustee David Dorris in Bloomington to discuss
board's cash rent policy. He comes from a long line of southern IL family farmers, and he
expressed concern about the unintended impact of the board's cash rent policy on family farmers and rural communities.
- FSIA is drafting a family farm friendly policy proposal that will be shared with Mr. Dorris.
He said that he would present the proposal to the board of trustees and lobby on its behalf.
3) 2007 Farm Bill - National People's Action
- Discussion is heating up around the country about the 2007 Farm Bill.
- As a part of National People's Action (NPA), FSIA is playing an important role in setting the organization's agenda for
2007 Farm Bill policy positions that benefit family farmers.
- FSIA is participating in NPA's gathering in Washington, D.C. on March 18-20. In D.C., FSIA leaders will meet with ag. staffers from
Rep. Johnson and Sens. Durbin and Obama. (FSIA can pay for travel for a few leaders who wish to participate.
Please reply if you are interested.)
Please pass this update along and watch for more news to come!
In the last 20 years, 300,000 family farms have gone under. "A Time to Act," a landmark study published in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Commission on Small Farms pointed the finger at federal policies that give financial advantage to corporate agribusinesses. As a result, family farmers cannot afford to compete with corporate agribusiness.
UNFORTUNATE RESULTS
- Depressed rural communities, (ISU agricultural economist, Patrick O'Rourke, estimates that Logan County loses $1,890,000 annually due to
corporate farmers who fail to re-invest in the rural communities in which they farm)
- Increased percentages of food dollars going to middle-men instead of to the farmers themselves (farmers' share of the consumer dollar has
dropped from $0.37 in 1980 to $0.23 today),
- Increased environmental pollution,
- Increased use of chemicals and additives in our food, and
- An increasing corporate stronghold on the farming industry. In the beef industry, for example, just four firms now
control 80 percent of the market, and the four largest hog processors control 60 percent of the pork market
(www.oxfamamerica.org).
ACTION:
One of
CIOP's newest member groups is Farmers Serving Independent Agriculture (FSIA). 25 Logan County farm families
joined together to form the charter group of FSIA.
FSIA member, Larry Huelskuetter, said that they approached CIOP to help them organize because "I had gone
to a CIOP meeting on predatory lending, so I was familiar with the organizing group.
Members participated in three leadership training sessions before initiating their strategy, which began with a
media campaign (see Press Coverage). Huelskuetter just wants "a level playing field...By keeping the
local farmer in business, the community benefits".
