Food & Power Newsletter: The Battle for Nebraska: Communities Take On Industrial Chicken and Pork
“We need a moratorium here in Iowa. We’ve got too many factory farms.” That’s Adam Mason, state policy director with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. He’s not alone in his desire for dramatic action to be taken against the proliferation of factory farming in his state. Communities across the country are standing up against corporate, industrial farming in their towns and cities. This growing anger is in part a response to weak state and federal protection of open and competitive livestock markets.
In Nickerson, Nebraska, citizens recently fought a plan by Georgia-based poultry company Crider Foods to open a new slaughterhouse that would serve Costco. The facility would be the state’s first industrial poultry plant, and according to the company’s grower application, would rely on contract production.
Under such an arrangement, the company provides chicks, feed, and other inputs to the farmer, but require the farmer to pay for costly infrastructure and equipment such as chicken houses and heaters. Often in these arrangements, companies pit farmers against one another to determine their pay, in what is called a “tournament system.”
At a town hall meeting in April, residents spoke against the plant’s potential environmental, social, and economic effects. Many were angered at the prospect of local farmers being lured into contract relationships with large slaughterhouses. “In our experience,” says Traci Bruckner of the Center for Rural Affairs in the town of Lyons, contract growing “hasn’t worked out in the interest of the growers.” The county board voted unanimously against rezoning the land for the plant.
Nickerson’s battle is only the latest in a series of efforts by slaughterhouses to take direct ownership of Nebraska’s livestock market, rather than buying animals in an open market from independent farmers. In February, the state’s ban on packer ownership of hogs was overturned in a contentious battle in the legislature. Many believe that decision paved the way for repealing all restrictions on slaughterhouse ownership of animals in Nebraska. “We are becoming the battleground state now for vertical integration,” says Randy Ruppert of Nebraska Communities United, a grassroots group that fought the Costco plant.
Another battle is taking place in Mason City, Iowa, where Prestage Foods announced plans to build a $245 million pork processing plant. In a seven-hour city council meeting May 3rd, the majority of residents stood opposed, citing environmental costs and low wages. “The city council and the economic development agency were trying to present [the plant] as a boon,” says Mason. But residents felt that the council was “working for corporate power, [not] for everyday folks. And that was very upsetting.” In the end, the council voted to reject the Prestage proposal.
Nebraskans don’t have to look far to see the effects of slaughterhouse control over local livestock herds. In 2003, the packer ban in neighboring Iowa was overturned by a lawsuit brought by Smithfield Foods, the largest pork company in the country. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of hogs on factory farms in Iowa grew by 75%. Today, there are over 8,000 factory farms in Iowa.
In 2008, candidate Barack Obama promised to combat monopolization in farming. But in office, his administration has done little to stop further concentration in agriculture. Many state governments have also failed to protect farmers. In Iowa, Mason says the state has passed permitting and zoning laws that strip local residents of the power to block factory farms. In Nebraska, 18 of 19 state legislators who received donations from Smithfield in 2015 voted to overturn the state’s packer ban. As a result, the fight against factory farming has increasingly become a matter of community-level organizing.
As we reported last week, Obama’s recent Executive Order on competition presents opportunities for Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to use its rule-making authority to take action against consolidation. But despite the Order, most agriculture advocates aren’t optimistic about USDA action during this administration.
What We're Reading
Mother Jones goes inside a Perdue chicken plant, where two-thirds of birds never receive any antibiotics. Consumer advocacy has driven some chicken companies to address antibiotic over-use, which can create dangerous resistant bacteria.
Hormel Foods, owner of SPAM, Skippy, and Applegate, bought Justin's L.L.C., maker of high-quality peanut butter products. The 12-year-old company is the latest in a series of healthier brands Hormel has acquired.
The USDA will participate in a U.S. government panel review of ChemChina's planned $43 billion acquisition of seed and pesticide company Syngenta. The deal would be the largest foreign acquisition ever by a Chinese company.
Amazon will soon release private-label brands of perishable foods and household items. The new brands will allow the online retailer to compete with other food companies who list on its site. The private-label brands will be exclusively available to Amazon Prime members.
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