Your Opinion: Reasons to support Right to Farm

Dear Editor:

Well, I am glad that this discussion of Amendment 1, the Right-to-Farm, is finally underway.

The News Tribune makes an interesting point, humans have been farming for a long time without the protection of the Constitution. Kind of like the spoken word, don't you think? Oh, wait a minute, freedom of speech is protected by the Constitution.

Agriculture has changed a lot the last 100 years - mechanization, commercial fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, electricity, GMO technology, antibiotics and concrete - all advances that many people oppose vehemently but advances that have allowed agriculture to produce enough food to feed an ever-growing population.

Agriculture has been committed to finding ways to produce more with less manpower and keep it affordable for all and still make a profit. Family farms are no different than the corporate farms that you all have. Family farms have employed the same advances in agriculture, they are always looking for ways to make a profit. There are a lot of misconceptions about family farms. Please don't think that they are not capable of the same violations that you accuse the factory farms of - in some ways they are worse.

You all seem to think that by voting down Amendment 1 you are supporting family farms. Not so.

Family farms are just as vulnerable to lawsuits as corporate farms. The difference is the corporate farms are better suited to fighting lawsuits because of their size and power. The family farm is out-on-a-limb, so to speak ,when it comes to litigation. Contrary to popular belief not all farmers have deep pockets and going to court is expensive. There is no slush find set aside to help farmers fight lawsuits. We have advocates like the Farm Bureau who try to help us out politically.

Lawsuits are expensive, time-consuming, emotional and damaging and not every lawsuit is credible.

Maybe the wording of Amendment 1 needs tweaking but I don't think agriculture should get the shaft. We live in a different age when certain groups aim to litigate agriculture out of existence.

This discussion is just getting started and I am looking forward to it.

Vote yes for your next meal. Vote for Amendment 1.

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