Washington lobbyists include farmers’ interests
NEWARK, Del. - The
concept of paid lobbyists
working behind the scene on
behalf of farmers may be
offensive to some farm folk.
But nonetheless, it does go
on. Farm lobbying is done
on a grand scale with
varying degrees of ef
fectiveness, and it’s done by
very slick PR people and by
just plain farmers.
How much farm lobbying
goes on in Washington is
hard to pin down. One report
indicates that farm
organizations, associations
and others interested in
influencing farm legislation
spend about 10 million
dollars a year in Washington
toward that end. Some of
that money comes directly
from farmers’ pockets in the
form of dues or other
membership fees. Other
funds for lobbying are
provided to the many
agricultural trade
associations by agribusiness
interests.
Some of the farm
organizations claim to do
very little lobbying and
devote a very small part of
their total budget to this end.
What makes Beacon shine?
When you own something, you’re more careful with
it, you work harder for it.
Each employee of Beacon owns a part of Beacon
From the miller in one of our plants, to the office
secretary, to the man who-loads the trucks, to the
truck driver, to the person who processes the orders
all of these people are a bit more careful, work a
bit harder in what they do
Beacon people are selected and trained to meet the
feeding needs of customers like
you Most field personnel come to
us with strong agricultural back
grounds and educations Backing
them up are staffs of technical
We’re employee owned. Thatfs why we shine.
Others admit to the lobbying
function as an important
part of what they do and why
they’re headquartered in
Washington and they claim a
sizable expenditure. Here
are some examples:
The National Council of
Farmer Cooperatives
spends more than $327,000 a
year on lobbying. It counts
everything - secretarial
salaries, postage, telephone
calls, anything remotely
connected to the lobbying
effort. On the other extreme
the National Farmers
Organization says it spends
less than $lO,OOO a year on
lobbying. Other examples -
The National Farm Bureau’s
annual bill is $178,000; the
National Grange, $66,000 and
the National Milk
Producers, $22,000.
Lobbying may not be the
dirty business that it has
been pictured to be, but it
still conjures up a dark
image that many farmers
would just as soon not be
associated with. As in
dependent businessmen they
like to think what they do is
all out in the open for
everyone to see and yet the
BEACON
associations
organizations that they
belong to are very much
involved in lobbying. In fact,
some of those groups exist
for no other purpose than to
influence legislators, keep
an eye on the agencies that
affect their interests, and
suggest ways that
Washington can serve their
members better. While
other services may be of
fered by these organizations
they are usually not the main
reason why they exist.
Consider this. Why would
any farm organization in its
right mind want an office in
Washington if it weren’t
trying to involve itself in the
legislative process?
Farm lobbying is a dif
ficult job at best because of
the diverse interest of
agriculture. How can a
lobbyist for the Farm
Bureau, for instance,
represent the interest of so
many different farmers and
ranchers? Legislation
aimed at raising grain prices
may be hurting livestock
farmers and so the lobbyist
is caught in the middle. On
the other hand, the special
specialists, proficient in the many aspects of dairy,
poultry and livestock technology And every other
Beacon employee, no matter what the job function,
possesses a special skill or talent that makes him or
her very valuable, to us and to you
Beyond the workings of today’s typical business
organization, our employees also have that addi
tional advantage of being stockholders
We’re employee owned one of the many reasons
why Beacon shines Findoutmore
Write us Or call us collect at 315-
253-7331 Beacon—headquarterd
in Cayuga, N Y manufactured
in plants throughout the northeast
interest lobby such as the
National Association of
Wheat Growers, has a pretty
clear picture of where its
members stand on such
legislation.
and
Sometimes the various
lobbying groups can get
together and form a
coalition. An example is the
Pesticide Users Conference.
This is a group that includes
representatives of the major
farm and commodity
organizations as well as
pesticide manufacturers.
They’ve been working
together over several years,
trying to brag some order to
the chaos of pesticide
legislation.
Even though formal
coalitions do not exist, on
many efforts there is a
getting together over lunch
or by telephone so that the
farm lobbyists know where
each other stands. There’s
really nothing more awk
ward than two groups that
claim to represent the same
basic interests arguing on
both sides of an issue.
Farm lobbyists provide a
very valuable service - that
is to make lawmakers aware
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 9,1978
of the impact of what they’re
legislating. . So often a
Congressman votes on a bill
without fully understanding
what it will do. It’s the
lobbyist’s job to make that
Congressman aware before
he votes of how such action
will affect a particular
group. Congressmen like to
know what the grass roots
farmer thinks about an
agricultural issue, and the
easiest way for them to get
that information is through
the farm organization’s
headquarters in the nation’s
capital. Many of these
organizations avoid the slick
professional lobbyist,
preferring instead to be
represented by elected
farmer officers who speak as
farmers and for farmers.
They more nearly reflect the
attitudes out in the country
and they’re more believable.
The American Agriculture
movement was able to
capitalize on this freshness.
When it came to town, its
members piloting farm
tractors and wearing the
familiar farm caps,
Pigeon Hill Farm
wins Hereford show
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Pigeon
Hill Farm of Abbottstown,
Pa. with a single entry
walked off with the top
honors, senior and grand
championship in the
Hereford show at the New
York State Fair.
The heifer, a spring
yearling, is PH Miss Nor
thern 77 and is out of GK
Northern 424 E.
Glenn Klippenstein of
Maysville, Mo., nationally
known Hereford breeder,
judged the Hereford
breeding classes at the
Syracuse show.
Congressmen had no trouble
believing these chaps.
American Agriculture’s
lobbying efforts, as rough as
they seemed, were pretty
darned effective. I doubt
they could have paid a
lobbyist to do that job for
them.
The farm lobbying
business continues to thrive
and grow in the nation’s
capital. The number of
active lobbyists seems to
increase as the momentum
picks up on key agricultural
issues. Then, with the
passage of something as
important as the farm bill,
many of those lobbyists pack
their suitcases and bead
back to farm country.
Others hang around town on
a regular basis dealing with
the alphabet agencies and
making sure that their
constituents aren’t caught
flatfooted on Capitol Hill.
One of the major cries
from farmers is the need for
understanding and those
lobbyists do their part to see
that farmers are understood
by a very important group.
Millbom Farm of Sher
bom, Mass, had the reserve
champion heifer, MBF Li
Miss Sam 372.
Dr. Timothy Dennis of
Penn Yan, N.Y., had the
senior and grand champion
bull with RH Prospector 7002
and the junior bull champion
with JC Come Along 148.
Powisset farm of Dover,
Mass, exhibited the best sue
head and Millborn Farm was
named both Premier
Breeder and Premier
Exhibitor.
17