Statement in support of the Utah Family Farm Protection Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the proposed Utah Family Farming Act.

First, of course, I’d like to thank Chairman Skibine for his thoughtful and understated leadership during this latest legislative session; I know I speak for us all when I note that without his presence, none of us would be here today. So, thank you Mr. Chairman.

Second, I must direct your attention to a quiet epidemic. Across America, the family farm – that is, agricultural operations that are owned and operated by people, not corporations – are being wiped out. In the last 25 years, 750,000 family farms have disappeared; as transnational corporations have taken over, they have eliminated over a million rural jobs in farming. And for what? A few cents saved on a pound of chuck roast? The convenience of strawberries in February? I submit to you that some things are more important than a bottom-dollar hamburger and access to exotic fruits year round, and primary among them is the quality of life that family farms provide – not just to the farmers and their families, but to all of us who live in this state.

The proposed Utah Family Farm Act will prohibit further corporatization of agriculture in Utah. Current corporately-owned operations will, of course, be allowed to continue. But no new corporate farming or ranching operations will be permitted. Additionally, incentives will be established to encourage startup family farms and ranches, as well as for the conversion of current corporate operations to locally-owned businesses. It’s time to retake our farmlands back from out of state, even out of country faceless corporate boards who couldn’t care less about the health of local communities – both rural and urban – here in Utah.

I should note that we are not out on a huge limb here: at least nine other states have enacted similar legislation, and one – Nebraska, that radical bastion of lefty nuttiness – added a strong family farming provision to its constitution. And while Utahns are certainly not interested in further government regulation of their businesses, this proposed Act only strengthens our citizens’ rights as in-state business owners and community members by protecting them from amoral out of state corporate invasion.

Furthermore, by saving family farms, we save ourselves. Centralized agribusiness operations are vulnerable to widespread contamination – eaten spinach lately? – and, as outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson noted in his final address, particularly to terrorist attack. Decentralized, locally-oriented farms are far more responsive to their communities both in terms of human health (who’s going to be able to tell you exactly what kind of fertilizer is being used on the leafy greens you eat, your neighbor the farmer or the multinational corporate executive overseeing millions of tons of production a month) and economic vitality (a dollar for your neighbor’s pork chops stays in the community, supporting local schools and other local businesses and their families).

This bill is, I hope, the first in a series that will provide state leadership for local agriculture in Utah. It strikes at one aspect of the problem: out of state, shareholder-driven, Wall Street-obsessed agribusinesses that are increasingly dominating the state’s agriculture. By making additional non-family corporate ownership of farms illegal, this bill brings hope to Utah families that are the backbone of both our culture and our existence. Because, after all, without food, there is no life.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and in doing so, yield the floor.

Legislation as it should be: The 2006 Utah Family Farming Act

(Proudly adopted from Nebraska's state constitution)

Proposed: The 2006 Utah Family Farming Act

No corporation or syndicate shall acquire, or otherwise obtain an interest, whether legal, beneficial, or otherwise, in any title to real estate used for farming or ranching in this state, or engage in farming or ranching.

Corporation shall mean any corporation organized under the laws of any state of the United States or any country or any partnership of which such corporation is a partner.

Farming or ranching shall mean:
(i) the cultivation of land for the production of agricultural crops, fruit, or other horticultural products, or
(ii) the ownership, keeping or feeding of animals for the production of livestock or livestock products.

Syndicate shall mean any limited partnership organized under the laws of any state of the United States or any country, other than limited partnerships in which the partners are members of a family, or a trust created for the benefit of a member of that family, related to one another within the fourth degree of kindred according to the rules of civil law, or their spouses, at least one of whom is a person residing on or actively engaged in the day to day labor and management of the farm or ranch, and none of whom are nonresident aliens. This shall not include general partnerships.

These restrictions shall not apply to:

1. A family farm or ranch corporation. Family farm or ranch corporation shall mean a corporation engaged in farming or ranching or the ownership of agricultural land, in which the majority of the voting stock is held by members of one family, or a trust created for the benefit of a member of that family, related to one another within the fourth degree of kindred according to the rules of civil law, or their spouses, at least one of whom is a person residing on or actively engaged in the day to day labor and management of the farm or ranch and none of whose stockholders are non-resident aliens and none of whose stockholders are corporations or partnerships, unless all of the stockholders or partners of such entities are persons related within the fourth degree of kindred to the majority of stockholders in the family farm corporation.

2. Non-profit corporations.

3. Utah Indian tribal corporations.

4. Agricultural land, which, as of the effective date of this Act, is being farmed or ranched, or which is owned or leased, or in which there is a legal or beneficial interest in title directly or indirectly owned, acquired, or obtained by a corporation or syndicate, so long as such land or other interest in title shall be held in continuous ownership or under continuous lease by the same such corporation or syndicate, and including such additional ownership or leasehold as is reasonably necessary to meet the requirements of pollution control regulations. For the purposes of this exemption, land purchased on a contract signed as of the effective date of this amendment, shall be considered as owned on the effective date of this amendment.

5. A farm or ranch operated for research or experimental purposes, if any commercial sales from such farm or ranch are only incidental to the research or experimental objectives of the corporation or syndicate.

The Governor or his appointee shall monitor corporate and syndicate agricultural land purchases and corporate and syndicate farming and ranching operations, and notify the Attorney General of any possible violations. If the Attorney General has reason to believe that a corporation or syndicate is violating this amendment, he or she shall commence an action in district court to enjoin any pending illegal land purchase, or livestock operation, or to force divestiture of land held in violation of this amendment. The court shall order any land held in violation of this amendment to be divested within two years. If land so ordered by the court has not been divested within two years, the court shall declare the land escheated to the State of Utah.

If the Governor or Attorney General fails to perform his or her duties as directed by this amendment, Utah citizens and entities shall have standing in district court to seek enforcement.

The Utah Legislature may enact, by general law, further restrictions prohibiting certain agricultural operations that the legislature deems contrary to the intent of this section.