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The
Blue Dog has a nice summer garden growing on the
west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains near the
Shenandoah River. The Blue Dog has planted his
veggie-lovers garden: oodles of tomaters, 'taters,
squash, peppers, cukes, watermelon and mountain
herbs.
But
there are also 90,000 chickens in three chicken
houses sitting about 800 feet away in my backyard.
That stinking yard-bird smell drifting with the
eastern winds is the family farm's bread 'n butter.
Yes, it's full-fledged factory farming in the Dawg's
back yard.
When
city folks and friends visit our home in the
Shenandoah Valley, I take them for a grand tour of
my in-laws' chicken houses and then try to explain
farming merits and methods in a rationale way - it's
not the standard country meat lovers versus city
vegetarian lifestyle arguments. Poultry is the
second top-producing agriculture industry in the
Valley. Beef is number one. Rockingham County is the
top agriculture-producing county in the state -
farming is a multimillion-dollar annual industry.
Farmers
are good stewards of the land and valued members of
our local community. The Daily News-Record
reported the Shenandoah Valley has 590 chicken
farms, 325 turkey farms and eight processing plants.
There's enough for a chicken in every pot in the
valley. (Just don't tell PETA.) I love eating beef,
pork and chicken along with an occasional Bambi
burger and steak with wild onions. I've enjoyed some
rather gnarly-looking deer jerky as well. But I'm
doggressing again...
Back
to what I was writing about - so-called factory
farming. A poultry-house operation, like most modern
farming, is a high-risk business, and the farmers
are subject to the consumer market's needs and
prices. Everybody knows the risk. Growers are
contracted out and depend on local companies, like
Pilgrim's Pride, Tyson, and Georges for their
paychecks. When a poultry corporation goes belly up,
falls to a corporate takeover or relocates to
another state for green pastures, our good
neighbors, Shenandoah Valley farmers, take the brunt
of the financial punishment and pain.
But
are federal and state government responsible for
bailing out the farmer? Congressman Bob Goodlatte
seems to think so. Last summer, Goodlatte, the chair
of the House Agriculture Committee, said, "I
firmly believe it is the government's responsibility
in these types of situations to do everything
possible to support citizens who are attempting to
help themselves."
Pilgrim's
Pride buyout
First
off, the Blue Dog is not addressing the West
Virginia Pilgrim's Pride Plant where workers were
caught on video stomping on chickens. Please take a
deep breathe PETA lovers, OK? Next question ...
The
Blue Dog has questioned both 26th District House of
Delegates candidates about the Hinton Pilgrim's
Pride buyout by the Virginia Poultry Growers
Cooperative, because there's just way too much
chicken cha-cha misinformation out there -
officially or unofficially - for the average citizen
to digest.
But
there's more about the clucking word ... about the
turkey processing plant's 1,300 workers without jobs
and 169 growers, and don't forget about the eight
million turkeys that were processed at the plant
annually. When the rumors about the plant closing
were realized, area politicians, such as Del. Glenn
Weatherholtz, Sen. Mark Obenshain and Congressman
Goodlatte and U.S. Sen. George Allen promised to
assist with finding another company to purchase
Pilgrim's Pride and recover work for those
unemployed by the potential plant closing. But
things changed during the time of the negotiations
and announcement of the cooperative.
Officially,
Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine and Gov. Mark
"Mollycoddle" Warner and Congressman
Goodlatte have sent press releases that say one
thing or the other - but nobody is yielding
political capital on the issue to any political
party. It's definitely a spin-city issue into
maximum overdrive when it comes to talking turkey.
My
Republican friend the Red Dog wrote, "One
million dollars extra for the governor's staff, but
not a dime of state money for the Hinton poultry
cooperative. He knows where his votes come
from." The Red Dog is right, because there's no
state money to be found. Of course, the governor was
only concerned about the financial impact of the
closing.
From
what I've been told, only the political insiders
know Congressman Goodlatte did the work to help
Pilgrim's Pride. And local farmers are upset with
how Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Tim
Kaine politicized the buyout, same thing for 26th
House District Democratic candidate Lowell Fulk. But
don't be so quick to judge, because that's not the
gospel truth.
I've
read several news reports and accounts where Lowell
Fulk was the good citizen behind the scenes that saved
the Hinton poultry plant. Mr. Fulk set up the
meeting between the Kaine and the turkey growers.
Kaine came to listen and started the ball rolling.
But the Blue Dog has yet to discover any local
farmers and politicians that will go on record to
say Fulk was the "go-to man" or establish
that the state provided the necessary financial
assistance. Matter of fact, there's not a peep-peep
mentioned about Fulk in either Warner's or Kaine's
press releases on the poultry cooperative. If Fulk
is running for office in a large farming district,
which has a Republican majority, please explain why
Democratic leaders are not touting "The
Incredible Fulk" and his poultry-farm-saving
efforts? It’s a truly bizarre situation.
So
the Blue Dog queried Congressman Goodlatte's office
on the buyout due to discover the history of the
Pilgrim's Pride closing and timeline in the wake of
the Pilgrim's Pride buyout by the local corporative.
Campaign
oddities
Word
is, Kaine is keeping a low profile in the Shenandoah
Valley in order not risk driving up the Republican
votes against Democrats running House of Delegates
campaigns. Did you notice that Kaine did not stop in
the city of Harrisonburg to announce his candidacy
this spring? He chose instead to visit the Pilgrim's
Pride plant outside the Harrisonburg city limits.
For
those who don't know, it's a blink-of-the-eye
community on U.S. 33 west heading toward West
Virginia. Local Democrats have been touting these
jobs were saved with Warner's, Kaine's and Fulk's
assistance in the creation of the local poultry
co-op.
In
July 2004, The Augusta Free Press reported,
"The co-op is going to ask the state in a
formal letter that will be delivered to Lt. Gov. Tim
Kaine later this week to provide whatever assistance
it can."
"Kaine
met with leaders of the co-op last month in
Harrisonburg. He said that Wednesday's announcement
"is a sign of just how hard everyone involved
is working to save thousands of plant jobs and
hundreds of farms in the Shenandoah Valley.'"
OK.
Kaine wrote a letter, held a meeting, talked with
Warner, and so on and so on. Area farmers know the
truth, and the local Republicans are allowing them
hang their hats on it for a while. But without a
doubt, the GOP will have future press conference
with all the cooperative details at a later date.
And they eventually will take Democrats to task for
being partisan, when Valley residents should all be
working together to assist the farming community.
It's
all politics. Kaine is just wooing opinion leaders
and area residents. After all, he's running for the
office of governor and needs rural votes. But it's a
strange game the Democratic campaigns are playing
politically with rural Virginia. Why? It's very
transparent, to say the least.
First
off, there was not a peep-peep mentioned in the
newspapers about Kaine's Staunton kickoff stop,
either. The Blue Dog's Staunton-based Democratic
friend, the Yellow Dog, said most Valley Democrats
didn't know about Kaine's kickoff tour stop in
Staunton or the Hinton poultry co-op photo-op that
day.
Second,
the local press has never bothered to link
candidates Fulk and Kaine together with the
Pilgrim's Pride issue. The non-event morphed into a
Warner fan club event. While outside Harrisonburg's
city limits, maybe 20 plant workers listened to Tim
Kaine outside the Hinton Virginia plant in the
parking lot.
The
Daily News-Record photo of the event
featured the two-dozen onlookers who looked less
than thrilled to be there listening to a politician.
Obviously, these Democrats were just wooing local
public opinion with the political grandstanding. The
DNR reported that Kaine told the crowd that
he was "really gratified to be able to help and
to work with all of you on this. Everyone had a
little loaf or fish to put in, and alone it wasn’t
enough, but together you see what can happen."
Biblically
speaking, Kaine didn't put a loaf or fish into that
basket, but applauded the workers for their hard
work with their local miracle making. It seems like
the political insiders know Congressman Goodlatte
did the bulk of the miracle work to help Pilgrim's
Pride because the local Democrats have been spinning
the issue.
Nevertheless,
a statewide Republican source, who has been close to
the situation, has told the Blue Dog, "It kills
us that Kaine gets so much ink on the Pilgrim's
Pride plant, but you are correct, only the insiders
know it was Goodlatte who got that deal done."
In
hindsight, Congressman Goodlatte probably needs
to let folks know he's the one who assisted with the
federal money to the plant to end the political spin
session.
The
Blue Dog only reports on the politics - the public
decides the issues.
Recently,
the Blue Dog's buddy from Lexington wrote,
"What do the voters know? They know Tim
Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are running embarrassing
campaigns full of marketing ploys befitting
Saturday-morning cartoons aimed at 5- to
8-year-olds."
"Nothing
better than a stirrer of the stew. That you are
my man, that you are!"
Goodlatte's
good deed
Congressman
Goodlatte presented a check to the Virginia Poultry
Growers Cooperative to assist with continued
operations at the Hinton plant and a related feed
mill in Broadway. In his press release, Goodlatte
said, "This is an exciting day for the Valley,
and I am pleased that I could help secure this vital
funding for the VPGC."
"Through
their efforts, local growers now own a piece of
their future. Despite many obstacles, co-op leaders
remained firm in their commitment to ensure the exit
of Pilgrim's Pride from the turkey business did not
cause significant disruption to the economy of the
Shenandoah Valley."
Governor
Mollycoddle commented that Goodlatte assisted to
secure federal funding for the deal and thanked him
for the effort. Congressman Goodlatte's office
commented to the Blue Dog: "The federal
government facilitated approximately $28 million in
financing to the Virginia Poultry Growers
Cooperative. These funds, combined with $2.6
million owner equity, financed the purchase of the
processing plant and feed mill.
"Initially,
Farm Credit of Virginia extended the VPGC a $5
million bridge loan, which allowed the co-op to
purchase the plant and feed mill on Sept. 15, 2004.
In October 2004, the United States Department of
Agriculture, under the auspices of the Rural
Economic Development Loan and Grant Program, helped
facilitate further financing for VPGC.
"On
Oct. 13, the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative
loaned the $8 million to VPGC for operating expenses
and infrastructure improvements. To secure long-term
financing, VPGC negotiated with and secured a $5
million term loan and $15 million line of credit
with Co-Bank, the largest co-operative bank in the
Farm Credit System.
"On
Oct. 14, the State of Virginia announced a $500,000
grant to VPGC." According to Congressman
Goodlatte's press release, Sonny Meyerhoeffer, the
chairman of the steering committee for the Virginia
Poultry Growers Cooperative, said, "VPGC is
extremely grateful for this critical federal
assistance from USDA, without which we would not be
where we are today.
"We
are also indebted to Congressman Goodlatte for his
help, and for his confidence in the turkey growers
and our dream to own a major processing and
marketing enterprise here in the Shenandoah
Valley."
That
will not look good on the Democratic campaign
brochures - it might be time to punt!
Last
few thoughts
It's
going to be quite interesting how these
agriculture-minded local House of Delegates
candidates incorporate farming into their campaigns.
Both Lowell Fulk and Matt Lohr are experienced
farmers and budding politicians, but inexperienced
legislators. That race is being closely watched
statewide due the competitive nature of the open
seat.
Del.
Ben Cline and his 24th House District opponent,
David Cox, have not debated agriculture issues. In
the 20th District, Del. Chris Saxman has harvested
some innovative legislation while in Richmond
dealing with agriculture issues in Virginia, such as
the Agricultural Enterprise Act of 2005. His
opponent, Bruce Elder, failed to mention family
farms or Valley agriculture in his announcement
speech, but that was probably an oversight. More
homework is needed by the Democrat Elder on the
issue. Let's give him time, but his deadline is
November.
Recently,
Saxman told the Blue Dog, "Many issues will
impact agriculture in the Valley - I-81, the repeal
of the death tax, property taxes and natural-gas
prices in relation to fertilizer. These are not
partisan in nature; however, most Republicans tend
to trust a low taxation, free-market orientation to
solving problems in Richmond. The Ag Enterprise bill
is an example of the public and private sectors
coming together in a collaborative effort to explore
the markets of the future.
"The
Agri-Tourism bill I put in last year will again be
an initiative of mine should I be fortunate enough
to be re-elected. That bill helps farmers across the
state find new revenues through expansion of
on-the-farm tourism. I am also eager to see the
results of the study I requested the Warner
administration carry out on the exploration of
natural gas off the coast of Virginia.
"If
we are able to show long-term benefit to accessing
that supply we could lower energy costs, reduce
fertilizer costs and provide revenue to the
Commonwealth through the federal SEACOR legislation,
that would alleviate revenue pressure on
farmers."
Aside
from Saxman's agriculture legislation,
free-enterprise legislation is not trusted in the
Commonwealth, not when it comes to farmers and
agricultural businesses. Maybe it's time to support
family farming in Virginia. Family farming and
values should be pivotal issues in the upcoming
House campaigns.
--
June 20, 2005
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