Rocky Mountain Farmers Union posted a comment with the Department of Labor urging that proposed new federal regulations on child labor avoid unintended hardships to family farms and ranches. “We are concerned that the regulations do not clearly exempt family operations that have incorporated,” said Kent Peppler, a Mead, Colorado, farmer and President of RMFU. “We support regulations to improve the safety of young farm workers, but the regulations shouldn’t place unnecessary burdens on farm and ranch families whose children participate in the family work.”

As a grassroots organization working to protect family farmers, ranchers and their rural communities, RMFU advocates for safe agricultural workplaces and supports programs that encourage young people to get experience and training that will lead them to a fulfilling life in agriculture. “We value the health and safety of all farm workers, whether family or hired help,” the comment asserted, “and we support the student-learner programs of rural schools, which offer hands-on training in a safe environment.”

Family-oriented agriculture is the most environmentally, economically and socially responsible model for agricultural production. Families have an inherent concern that  their natural resources are sustainable, that their livestock are handled with humane husbandry, and that workers, who include spouses, children, and the extended family, have a safe workplace. The agricultural family has a vested financial and emotional interest in keeping the workplace safe. The proposed rules lack clarity regarding their impact on farms owned by a closely-held family corporation or partnerships consisting of family members. “This could be another case of creating rules that do nothing to curb industrial abuses while creating hardship for conscientious families in agriculture.”

RMFU expressed support for prohibitions on young workers using electronic devices, including communications devices, while operating a tractor. “The risks of ‘distracted driving’ are a mounting problem in the digital age,” Peppler said. However, the comment urged further consideration of the proposed rule requiring a valid state driver’s license to operate a tractor on public roads. Most states have already established their regulations with reference to operating licensed vehicles on public roads.  RMFU supports requiring appropriate markings on slow moving equipment to improve operation safety. But  national regulations overriding local statutes will degrade the student-learner’s involvement in operation of the farm or ranch. “Operator training is the key to farm safety,” Peppler said.

The proposed rules eliminate many the student-learner and certification exemptions from Hazardous Occupations (HO) rules. This modification will have a direct impact on training the next generation of farmers and ranchers and recruiting young adults into agriculture-related businesses. RMFU urged the Department to provide justification for specific changes within a task area covered by the rule.

“The new  regulations would prohibit young family members from learning key skills for raising livestock,” Peppler said. “Young people should have appropriate training, safety conditions, and supervision on the job, but we cannot support prohibiting student-learners from participating in basic animal husbandry.”

RMFU’s comments supported new prohibitions that correct omissions in existing statutes, such as prohibiting hired farm workers under the age of 16 working in silos or grain storage bins, in manure pits, or handling pesticides. “Farm safety is important to RMFU, as important as the health and safety of our own children. The future of American agriculture requires an experienced and trained new generation. We commend the Department’s efforts to make workplaces safer for young workers. However, these regulations go too far in their zeal to protect our young people from their own families. Nobody wants their children working in unsafe conditions. But the Department of Labor must not allow new regulations to have unintended consequences like  adverse effects on family farmers and ranchers and on learning and certification programs.”

2011: Here we go again. It’s time to get out the crystal ball and determine what issues will rise to the top and challenge all of us. What will be the issues that affect our members the most? Where do we need to be on these issues to benefit our members the most? This isn’t like gambling in Las Vegas. It more like swimming in a lake you have never been at before. Everyone tells you what they think is waiting for you underneath the muddy water but you really never know until you jump in.

A quick and I think an accurate assessment is that our lives are going to be affected by government budgets. Education, health care, environment, and the rural economy as a whole will see some more challenges this year. Most states are going to have some huge decisions to make as far as spending and taxation are concerned.

The federal budget also faces huge challenges. It’s about priorities. It’s about what’s more important, people or corporate profits. One can listen to a hundred different economists and get a hundred different opinions. Here at Rocky the priorities are set in our policy, which the members create every year at our state and national conventions.

Rocky’s number one priority is achieving profitability for family farmers and ranchers. That is the lithmus test for all of the decisions made around here. It doesn’t matter what issue we are working on, it’s all about profit for our family farm and ranch members.

The state and federal budgets for the most part are in trouble and we have some fears about the outcomes of the decisions that will have to be made. One of our fears is that the renewable energy agenda that really began in earnest just a few years ago may be put on the back burner. You have all let us know your feelings on the movement and what a huge mistake it would be not to pursue renewable energies full speed ahead.

Education, specifically rural education, is going to be a handful of troubles. Colorado tax laws make it very difficult to fund education properly. Rural schools are in a very difficult situation and we need to watch the education issues very carefully. Rocky has fought long and very hard to make sure the students at Lone Star have the same educational opportunities as the students in Cherry Creek. That’s one battle I know we have won over the years. I have nephews and nieces who have graduated from Lone Star and other rural schools in eastern Colorado and they have done just fine in this world. But if the money situation continues to be tight I expect we’ll have to fight the “education fairness” battle again.

We are fortunate to have Dr. Dale McCall on our Rocky board of directors and Ben Rainbolt as our executive director. Both men are recognized as top notch experts in rural education, so I feel pretty comfortable that we will handle the education challenges properly.

Health care is another handful. Rocky has worked hard to promote technologies such as telemedicine, student grants for medical students to practice in rural areas after graduation, and legislation that increases the authority of nurse practitioners. I know we still have a ways to go on rural health care, but we are worried that the government budget adjustments will create some big obstacles for rural health care, and they may actually throw us for a loss in that battle.

I have mentioned a few of our fears at Rocky but I don’t want to frighten all of you. Rural America also has some positives going for it right now. Most of us have enjoyed some high production years lately in both the crop and livestock industries. Commodity prices continue to rise, and there is a strong feeling this will continue at least in the short term. The general economy as a whole seems to be working its way out of its troubles since the low in 2008. It appears some of our expenses are peaking out or at least leveling to the point where we can deal with them at the farm budget level.

It appears that we may be seeing the beginnings of some competition that could reduce the healthcare expenses that have decimated our families for more than a generation. Despite corporate America doing its best to trash what they call “Obamacare,” the threat of a public option may be doing some good. Hospital board members are making statements like “We need to do more for less.” People tell me Kaiser Permanente has a program out now that competes with Medicare for the senior healthcare dollar, and pharmaceutical people tell me the “fatted calf is leaving the country.” These comments give me hope that if we keep pushing then someday we will have affordable, high quality health care for all Americans.
The other positive you can count on in 2011 is the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. We have staff members in both the insurance and the farm organization who are dedicated to serving our members. We are all family at Rocky, and when challenges arise we will prevail. The key is going to be sticking together to work for a common cause.

I know we are going to have our hands full this next year. But to tell you the truth, I can’t wait for 2011. Let’s get going!

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President Kent Peppler, a Mead, Colo., farmer, issued a statement today on the temporary restraining order that prevents the USDA from approving Conservation Reserve Program contract amendments under the Critical Feed Use plan. The order, issued by a Washington State Federal District Court judge at the request of the National Wildlife Federation, impacts all states.

President Peppler’s statement:

A rancher is not asking for Critical Feed Use waivers so he can exploit hay and grain prices; he’s got cattle to feed. This restraining order is very likely to bankrupt some ranchers. Family agriculture is not the enemy of environmentalists or conservation. The enemy of conservation is continuing drought conditions. Drought reduces a rancher’s access to native pastures for grazing and to alternative feed.

Farmers and ranchers are land stewards concerned with the long term benefit of their livestock and their land, including wildlife habitat. The CRP program is crafted to allow stewardship of the land without abusing the intent of the program. The Critical Feed Use waiver has been a part of CRP since 1985. If a rancher’s CRP land is approved for grazing through a waiver, the rancher invests in making water available and putting up fencing to protect lands not affected by the waiver. Grazing and haying allowed via the Critical Feed Use plan provides other benefits to the environment by reducing the need for chemicals to control disease, weeds, and destructive pests.

The situation for beef production is dire. Drought conditions are requiring ranchers to liquidate herds at rates and levels that jeopardize their future as independent ranchers. Cutting them off from feed on their own lands is short-sighted. They are facing exactly the problem that Critical Feed Use waivers are meant to deal with. Expecting the government to respond to an emergency by doing an environmental impact study is not sensible.

Eastern Colorado is facing economic disaster caused by drought, energy costs, feed costs and reduced yields. We are grateful that some of the worst-hit counties are exempt from this restraining order under disaster relief edicts sought by Governor Ritter and approved by USDA. But there are ranchers in other areas being impacted by the drought that need assistance now. Critical Feed Use waivers offer that assistance.

It’s a shame when family farmers and ranchers get caught in the crossfire between conservationists and agri-business. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union is concerned that the wildlife federations are attacking Critical Feed Use waivers to oppose efforts by some large agri-business corporations to seek changes in CRP rules for exploitive reasons. These businesses want the USDA to change the rules so producers can get out of CRP contracts without penalty. This would allow them to produce more commodities, resulting in lower market prices for producers and increased profit margins for agri-business. We ask the conservationists to oppose that rule change itself, without threatening the livelihoods of family ranchers and farmers who are operating their CRP lands within the existing rules and regulations.

On behalf of the 23,000 members of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union in New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, I am writing to express our gratitude for your amendment to Rep. Lamborn’s PIONEERS  bill.  We agree with your concerns over the quantity and quality of water that will be used for commercial development of oil shale, a resource that has shown promise for close to a century, and never delivered on those promises.

Our members already face a water shortage caused by heavy demands on the river and changes in climate.  We simply cannot gamble away our water on a speculative resource like oil shale. If we do, we  risk losing a farm and ranch economy that is vital to grow the food our nation depends upon.  In Colorado and across the West, agriculture is crucial to pulling our state and region out of recession.

You are absolutely correct in requesting that the U.S. Geological Survey study the impacts of oil shale on our water before rushing to commercial development.  The Department of Interior should require developers to use existing leases to discover these impacts before considering the commercial leasing of our public lands for oil shale production.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue.

My first experience with agricultural market concentration was in the 1980s. Like many other small family farmers, we fed cattle. My dad began his farming career in the late 1930s by partnering with my grandfather and their landlord on a cattle feeding venture. I believe he told me they paid 8 cents a pound for their first loads of cattle.

This arrangement continued until 1944. Then my dad and my grandfather purchased a farm, and they fed cattle on their own until my grandfather retired from feeding in the late 1950s. Dad fed on his own until the late 1970s, when he brought me into the business. Of course Dad had ups and downs, but overall the cattle business was our bread and butter and it worked.

Dad had an excellent reputation for finishing high quality cattle and was blessed with top-notch commission people who bought and sold his cattle. Packers were numerous, and he sold cattle to independent packers such as Litvack Packing, Pepper Packing, Flavorland Packing (to name just a few). Life was good and there was a bright future in the cattle feeding industry for young people such as myself – and then came the 1980s.

The last load of fat cattle we sold was in 1986. We sold the cattle to IBP because they were the last packer buying big steers. Believe me, IBP couldn’t have cared less about buying our cattle. What happened to us happened to thousands of small feeders all over the U.S. and the attrition continues today. We were feeding up to 500 cattle a year. A friend who fed a couple thousand a year told us we needed to feed bigger and market more often. A few years later, he was out of the business.
A few years after that, our biggest cattle-feeding neighbor, feeding 20,000 a year, quit, for the same reason the rest of us did. He was one of the last of the true cattle feeders in Colorado. It was amazing to me; in ten short years, the cattle feeding industry that had kept our local economy strong and vibrant was gone! But it wasn’t a total surprise. I still remember hearing Ken Monfort speaking on how to make it in the cattle business in 1983, and he said if you aren’t running 50,000 head in 2000, you will be gone.

The reason for this decimation of private, farmer-owned cattle feeding is easy to track. This attrition began in the 1980s. The government decided it was not in the best interests of the American people to enforce the rules set forth by the Packers and Stockyards Act, and the administration began to ignore the anti-trust laws that kept our playing field reasonably level. Under the new unregulated economy big corporations were thriving, and they in turn vertically integrated. It effectively ran everyone else out of the business. And worst of all, we see the industry continue to consolidate today.

Market concentration is the issue that led me to be active in Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. Farmers Union was the only ag organization that had the foresight to see what a danger market concentration was to our way of life. We have led the fight against concentration for a hundred years, all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt. Most farm organizations have viewed concentration as just part of a free, fair and open market system. You know, the old adage of only the best and the most efficient should survive.
The simple truth is, in a true free competitive market system, the guy with the most money wins. If you and I are competing against each other in a business, no matter how dedicated I am, or how hard I work, or how smart I think I am, if you have enough money to wage a price war on me, you are going to win. After I am gone, you can set your price where you want and get back your losses. You can make massive profits with no competition… until someone comes along with more money than you and decides to run you out of business. And who pays for this “free market”? Consumers, eventually.

The American people have been sold a bill of goods on what a fair market really is. As citizens of this country we need to be vigilant and constantly monitor what’s happening in our market places. The American people have to take the leadership role and exercise their vote. That’s the way to take our country back from the huge multi-national corporations that have so much power today. We need to tell big business that it’s not a “free market” if they can buy it. We need a level playing field in the marketplace.

If we continue to ignore market concentration and consolidation, our nation will become a country of corporate slaves. Main street businesses will cease to exist, and the entrepreneurial spirit that made America great will be lost. We will end up living Tennessee Ernie Ford’s old song: “Saint Peter don’t you call me cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store!”

That’s why Rocky Mountain Farmers Union will be at the table when the USDA and the Department of Justice are ready to talk about market concentration. We will always be there for the independent producer.

We’re ready to fight that fight again, because it’s a good fight and we are going to win it.

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has always tried to formulate successful strategies that will enhance our ability to promote our grassroots policy not only in Washington, D.C., but also in our membership states of New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado.

I am very proud to say that our organization has had a great deal of success in the last couple of years thanks to the hard work of our staff, members, and board of directors. In a nutshell, here is how we manage your political agenda at RMFU.

First of all, we want to be an issues-oriented lobby, not a sounding board for a political party. Our policy is not about Republicans or Democrats, it’s about rural America.
Our organization strives to have good working relationships with all politicians, cabinet members, and other organizations. It makes me feel like we are truly representing the rural Rocky Mountain area when on some issues we are working with mostly conservatives and on other issues we are working with the progressives.

Second, RMFU wants to be known for our honesty and our integrity. This is huge to me. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has a very clear policy and we strive to articulate this policy in as transparent medium as possible. We are upfront with our positions and communicate well with all stakeholders. Our worst nightmare is to have a stakeholder on a particular issue be surprised or feel misled by what they have read or heard, compared to what we have told them face-to-face.

In essence, stakeholders may disagree with us but they should know where we stand, and they need to feel that when we tell them something, they can take that information to the bank!

Third, we need to be at the table. Our goal is to always be at the negotiating table. We may disagree with others, but we won’t be disagreeable. We believe that if we act professionally and stay issues-oriented, then we avoid the personal attacks that can lead to losing our chair at the table or can discourage someone else from being at the table.
The solutions to most issues are negotiated. Rarely does one individual or group have all of the answers. If we are not at the table, the chances of our success drop to zero. Staying at the negotiating table is very difficult for all of us because we are all very passionate about what we believe. Rural issues are not just bargaining chips in some game; they are the life blood of our communities, so it is important that we maintain our discipline and professionalism to keep our seat at the negotiating table.

Last but not least, RMFU is constantly building coalitions. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union needs to be a “uniter” organization, not a “divider” organization. We cannot help our rural areas without a lot of help from others. We are constantly networking, discussing, and researching for partners to help us improve family farming.

Our door is always open andwe welcome everyone to come in and get to know us.
We value all of our relationships, particularly with other farm organizations. Agriculture is a relatively small spot in the big picture, but we represent the people who feed the nation and we deserve to be heard. Our fellow farm organizations are invaluable to us and we guard those relationships very closely. We don’t drive around the country, trash-talking other farm organizations or their members. We don’t have the time or the inclination to do so. There is just too much work that needs to be done for family farmers. When Rocky does a good job of developing coalitions, everyone benefits. Let’s not forget that everyone has to eat.

There you have it in a nutshell, how Rocky Mountain Farmers Union promotes our policy. It’s not rocket science, and I didn’t give away any family secrets, it’s just how we go about doing your business.

I hope you all have a great spring!

It has been quite a long time since we have seen such a harvest in our area, so this year’s crop makes us even more thankful than we normally would be. While we are enjoying the beautiful fall colors, we should give thanks for those who came before us, for taking the time to formulate changes that gave us the good life we have today.

Fall roundup at the Terry Ranch Grazing Association, in Carr, Colorado, was always an exciting time for my family. It was always fun to see the progress of the cattle through the summer and to finally bring them home to feed out in Mead.

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union is ready to have our fall roundup. RMFU’s roundup begins with county conventions and district meetings – and just about any other place where two or more of our members get together. These grassroots conversations have to take place before RMFU can have good, sound policy. It finishes up at the big convention in November, where delegates finalize that grassroots policy.

“Grassroots.” I love that word, and when it comes to Rocky, grassroots action is the blood and backbone of the organization. I believe this with all of my heart, and that is the primary reason I ran for president. I have unquestionable faith in our members to formulate sound rural policy. Our past success, our current responsibilities, and our future as a viable farm organization depend on the rank and file member who is willing to show up for a meeting or serve on a committee.

It is absolutely imperative to the success of Rocky and rural America that we round up our members and friends in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico so they can give Rocky the direction it must have to improve bottom lines all across rural America.

I believe all of us have a responsibility to try to leave the earth in a little better shape than we found it. So let’s get these county meetings going; let’s fill the delegate seats at the state convention; let’s effect change that will improve the lifestyle in rural America and make future generations as proud of us as we of the people who came before us. Success for us starts with grassroots conversation and participation, county conventions, delegate rosters and, policy formulations. We achieve success with laws and programs and individual and family actions that improve rural America.

I hope you all of you have a bountiful fall and a successful roundup.

Disaster aid will be here in January and it’s about time! Congress passed the Iraq spending bill recently and in that bill is $3 billion for agriculture disaster relief, including livestock. This is the culmination of a three-year fight with Congress and an administration that refused to sign agriculture disaster in the past.

Your Farmers Union organizations were the leaders in procuring this aid. We sunk our teeth into this deal like we were a mad Rottweiler and just didn’t let go until the administration totally capitulated. A lot of people are taking credit for this win, but three years ago, when the disaster battle began, the only group charging the hill was Farmer Union, and we need to be proud of that.

The legislation will have a tremendous impact on the future of family farm and ranch agriculture and the production of local fresh food.
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) has not taken the 2007 farm bill lightly. Over a year ago a farm bill task force was appointed including producers and consumers from Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. A number of meetings were held to solicit input into the ten or more titles of the farm bill legislation.

The committee gathered material and information from over 500 individuals, including Rocky Mountain Farmers Union members who attended the annual convention last November. The task force developed a document from that material and that document has now been shared with every member of Congress from our three-state region.

The most significant factor in the development of the farm legislation will be the budget authority granted by the Budget Committee. If the Budget Committee does not provide a budget authority equal to that granted for the development of the 2002 farm bill, all America is being short-changed!

Every farm bill title includes important legislation. The nutrition title is essential to the health and welfare of our children, and the commodity title has many programs essential to the economic stability of our nation’s farmers and ranchers.

Conservation programs linked to working lands are also important to farmers and ranchers, and continued domestic development of renewable energy must be a priority. RMFU also urges expanded commitment in the rural development title to cooperative development centers, and the trade title must protect the American consumer and producers with regard to imported food and fiber.

Additionally, RMFU encourages Congress to establish a new title, Concentration. Markets in America are becoming more concentrated, from agriculture inputs to food retailing, leaving price control in the hands of a few corporations.

Safe, healthy, nutritious food and domestic fuel and fiber, produced by our nations’ family farmers and ranchers, are the keys to our nation’s economic independence and security. Please talk with your neighbors and friends and your elected representatives about the farm bill. You can make a difference!