Copyright 2002 Star Tribune  
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
March 5, 2002, Tuesday, Metro Edition
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 1D

LENGTH: 1079 words

HEADLINE: Farm-raised issues;
Crop prices and genetic modification top the National Farmers Union's two-year agenda.

BYLINE: Joy Powell; Staff Writer

DATELINE: Irving, Texas

BODY:
The National Farmers Union said Monday that it is asking Congress to investigate possible manipulation of grain and livestock markets by big investors and multinational companies.

     The organization, which represents nearly 300,000 farmers and ranchers in 26 states, also is asking for a moratorium on the issuing of patents for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, in crops and animals.

     Those declarations came as the group concluded its four-day convention in Irving, Texas, and approved its list of priorities for the next year. That list is topped by the organization's desire for a new farm bill, which has some controversial provisions and currently is under consideration in Congress.

     The farm bill fight will be led by Dave Fredrickson, the Minnesotan who was elected president of the farmer's union on Sunday.

     Though it is not the organization's biggest concern, the call for a congressional investigation is serious. Farmers say that when supplies are tight, prices should rise, and that when supplies are in surplus, prices should fall. But the market doesn't always follow those signals, and farmers want to know why.

    The implication is that the market is being distorted by large investors to their own advantage, causing prices to rise and fall in a very short amount of time. That can hurt farmers' ability to market their commodities.

     The Farmers Union is asking Congress to examine the grain and livestock markets for possible collusion and the sharing of information between commodity funds and big businesses and investors. Such information-sharing and collusion could unfairly drive down prices.

      The union also wants Congress to look into the adequacy of the overall regulation of the commodity exchanges by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

      "It's a situation where the level of competition is declining very dramatically and the level of transparency _ the level of people to be able to view what is really going on in these markets _ is also declining significantly," said Jim Miller, chief economist for the Farmers Union. "That puts farmers at a severe disadvantage, allows for discriminatory treatment by these companies across their markets, which are multinational, and, I believe, has very similar effects ultimately on the consumer.".

     Miller said that with less competition, consumers will have fewer choices and probably a lower level of knowledge about the products they buy.

     Some of the same multinational companies that farmers feel could be unfairly influencing the markets also may be those that are attempting to patent genetically modified agricultural products such as seeds, Miller said.

      Farmers also are asking the government for a moratorium that would temporarily discontinue granting patents on GMOs. The organization wants to prevent large companies from gaining control of genetically modified products from seed to the dinner table, said the group's outgoing president, Leland Swenson.

Potential seed problems

     "The industry has consolidated significantly, so now you have a limited number of companies that are engaged in seed production," Miller said.

      The danger, he said, is that farmers could become unable to legally keep seeds and plant them each season. Instead, the company could claim ownership of those seeds and charge the farmers. An increasing number of lawsuits filed by companies against farmers illustrate the growing problem, he said.

    Miller said some of the multinational companies are further concentrating the market by involvement in genetics research and patenting.

      "Many of those same companies are also the leading companies globally engaged in the development of crop-protection products. And you have either direct and indirect alliances and linkages between those companies and the companies that are engaged in processing and merchandising around the world."

      Major companies often share the cost of genetic-modification technology with universities that are using tax dollars for the research, said Dennis Wiese, president of the South Dakota Farmers Union and secretary of the National Farmers Union.

        The companies then patent the research and charge tax-paying farmers for access to those technologies, Wiese said. He and Swenson, the outgoing president, call those practices unfair and unethical.

     The Farmers Union supports legislation that, if approved, would exempt farmers from paying royalties on patented farm animals and technical fees on seeds that have been genetically modified.

     "If we have to pass legislation to help deny those companies the right to manipulate the farmer and the rural communities in this, then we ought to be doing that," Wiese said.

     The farmers also contend that GMOs have created a series of ethical, environmental, food-safety, legal and market issues that must be addressed.

A new farm bill

     While farmers spent time discussing those issues, they also talked about their top priority: getting a new farm bill.

     "The top need is to get a farm bill passed in time for farmers as they make their planting decisions," said Fredrickson, the organization's new president. "It is so important for farmers, as they go to the field, to know where the safety net will be for them."

     Fredrickson has served since 1991 as president of the Minnesota Farmers Union and is a former state senator.

     Many of the Farmers Union's provisions are included in the Senate version of a federal farm bill that is now before a House-Senate conference committee.

     Fredrickson said a top priority is higher loan rates. They set the minimum price that farmers can receive for their commodities when they use their crops as security for government loans.

     The group also supports a ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock, an antitrust measure, Fredrickson said.

    _ Joy Powell is at jpowell@startribune.com.

Other Farm Union priorities

- Ban on meatpacker ownership of livestock, which is seen as an antitrust measure.

- Legislation that would triple ethanol production over the next decade and promote increased use of other renewable fuels.

- Establish a task force to study water resources so they remain available.

- Education to encourage young people's participation in farming and rural areas.

- Promote development of rural cooperatives and communications technology.



GRAPHIC: PHOTO

LOAD-DATE: March 5, 2002