Contact: Doug Peterson, MN Farmers Union, 651-639-1223;
Bob Arndt, Minn. National Farmers Organization, 507-925-4371, 320-760-5745 (cell)
Mary Jo Forbord, Sustainable Farming Association of Minn., 320-760-8732
Paul Sobocinski, Land Stewardship Project, 507-342-2323, 507-430-1509 (cell)

2/23/04
ST. PAUL, Minn.—Four Minnesota farm groups announced today that they have come together to create the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farmers and Rural Communities. The task force will study the challenges facing livestock farmers and rural communities and make policy recommendations to state officials and the legislature. The task force held its founding meeting at the Minnesota Farmers Union office in January to draft its working guidelines.

“There are no easy answers,” said Doug Peterson, President of the Minnesota Farmers Union. “But the answers we come up with must benefit rural communities and independent family farmers. That’s the perspective this group will take.”

The four founding farm organizations are the Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota National Farmers Organization, the Land Stewardship Project and the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota. The groups have invited religious organizations, consumer groups, Main Street businesses and local government representatives to be a part of the task force.

“Too often solutions are pursued that represent only a single perspective and divide communities,” said Paul Sobocinski, an independent hog producer and Land Stewardship Project organizer. “This task force will be diverse. We are all in this problem together, and we are going to find the solutions together.”

The task force’s working guidelines call for a strong commitment to strengthening the viability of independent livestock producers.

“Minnesota has been a champion of keeping livestock and dairy production in the hands of independent family farmers,” said Bob Arndt, President of Minnesota National Farmers Organization. “Independent producers buy and sell local and they need access to local capital.”

The working guidelines also list a commitment to stewardship and meeting consumer demand for high quality, safe food.

“Human health is tied to the health of the landscape, and farmers and consumers alike are very aware that good nutrition starts on the farm. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have diverse and beautiful landscapes across our state that can yield a diverse array of fresh, nutritious foods without harming the environment,” said Mary Jo Forbord, Executive Director of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota. “As farmers, we stand with consumers to assure our children’s right to healthy food and a clean environment, produced right here in Minnesota by our next generation of independent family farmers.”

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NOTE: Below is the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farmers and Rural Communities statement of purpose.

Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farming & Rural Communities

The task force will make recommendations to policy makers and community leaders on how to increase the number and profitability of Minnesota livestock farmers in ways that benefit rural communities. The task force recognizes that livestock farmers and vibrant rural communities are directly related and the health of one affects the other.

The task force’s solutions will be based on:

• Economic models that are sustainable and benefit rural Main Streets. Many economic models take into account only profit for investors and not the negative impacts on the local community and environment. Economic models should take into account such factors as benefits or harm to schools, Main Street businesses and the environment.

• Private enterprise as opposed to corporate investment. When capital and ownership come from private, local sources, control and profit stay local. When capital and ownership are from distant corporate sources, control and profit leave the community.

• Benefiting existing livestock farmers and encouraging beginning farmers. Too often existing livestock farmers are not considered in the rush to attract corporate investment into Minnesota’s livestock sector. The truth is Minnesota’s existing livestock producers are the starting point for solutions and should be the first considered.

• A commitment to promoting a family farm-based system of agriculture. The family farm based-system of agriculture has made this nation strong and is the most efficient means of production.

• A commitment to stewardship of the land. Livestock agriculture in Minnesota can be practiced in a way that protects and even enhances our state’s natural resources for the long term, especially by protecting water and air quality, reducing erosion, and building soil quality.

• Increasing farmers’ access to capital. Access to local capital at reasonable terms is critical to existing and beginning farmers.

• Consumer demand for high quality and safe food. Consumers have made it clear that they want high quality, safe food. Opportunities exist for farmers to achieve a better price by meeting these needs.

• Promoting competition and fair markets. Markets for livestock have become so concentrated that price manipulation is possible. This is bad for consumers and producers, as packers are able to pay independent producers low prices and overcharge consumers.

• Increasing profit to producers. Policies that increase economic activity without increasing profit to producers are ultimately harmful by increasing concentration in our food industry.

• Respecting local forms of government to make decisions about development. Townships and counties are best suited to react to the needs of local residents. A strong livestock industry need not come at the expense of democracy. Local forms of government should maintain the right to create standards that are higher than the state’s standards.

Founding organizations: Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota National Farmers Organization, Land Stewardship Project, Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota