WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, 16 farm organizations announced the launch of the national Enough Is Enough Tour in protest of government policies that drive consolidation of the food system into the hands of the largest multinational corporations to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.
With Congress preparing to debate the farm bill during prime planting and calving season, restricting farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to bring their voices to Washington D.C., farm groups will gather at events in at least five states to call on members of Congress to deliver a bill that levels the playing field.
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. 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.
Enough Is Enough Tour events will take place across the country, hosted by grassroots and national organizations representing the interests of our nation’s food producers:
- May 14 | Clearwater, MN | Hosted by American Grassfed Association and Thousand Hills Farm
- May 22 | Osseo, WI | Hosted by Wisconsin Farmers Union
- May 24 | Nicodemus, KS | Hosted by Kansas Black Farmers Association
- May 31 | Guntersville, AL | Hosted by Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association, Competitive Markets Action, and the Organization for Competitive Markets
- June 4 | Bismarck, ND | Hosted by Dakota Resource Council
“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. “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.”
“The Enough Is Enough Tour provides a crucial platform to educate our stakeholders about injustices faced by BIPOC farmers,” said Dr. JohnElla Holmes Reece, Executive Director of Kansas Black Farmers Association. “Addressing misuse of funds in government checkoff programs serves as a pivotal step toward advocacy and change, empowering our community to pave the way for a fairer agricultural landscape.”
“In our pursuit of a fair agricultural landscape, it’s time to acknowledge that the current system disproportionately favors corporate giants over family-scale farms,” said Darin Von Ruden, President of Wisconsin Farmers Union. “The Enough Is Enough Tour is advocating for policies that level the playing field and work toward a viable future for all farmers and ranchers.”
“The Enough is Enough Tour is an opportunity for cattlemen and women to listen to what the checkoff has really done to the American cattle industry and what solutions are proposed to correct the 30+ year fleecing of cattle tax paying ranchers,” said Dave Hyde of the Buckeye Quality Beef Association.
“As a proud American and lifelong producer, I’m elated to see our members rally in support of putting the checkoff programs back on track and call on the Alabama Congressional Delegation to back to the OFF Act and end the rampant corruption within these swampy slush funds,” said Jonathan Buttram, President of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association and Treasurer at the Organization for Competitive Markets. “The industrial agriculture mafia is petrified of our work and the OFF Act because they see the writing on the wall and we hope they soon meet the same fate as New York’s infamous ‘Five Families.’”
The Enough Is Enough Tour is endorsed by: 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.
