OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has shifted from being a people's agency to an agency for corporate agriculture, a new report by a coalition of agriculture leaders charges.
The 40-page report, released Thursday at the Lincoln-based Organization for Competitive Markets' annual meeting, details five case studies that the authors said show that corporate agribusiness is taking the reins of the agency's regulatory process.
"The idea is to try to make the world understand that the (USDA) is in the hands of people who are there to extend the agenda of entities that are supposed to be regulated by the department," OCM president Fred Stokes said. "We think it's been hijacked."
The report was commissioned by the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative, a network of family farm and public interest groups. It identifies five areas as being influenced by the ties USDA officials have with corporations: biotech foods, mad cow disease, captive supply in meatpacking, concentrated animal feeding operations and meat inspection policies.
USDA officials said they couldn't immediately comment on the report because they had not yet read a copy.
In the case of biotech foods, the report says the USDA "remains one of the strongest proponents" even though many farmers have been vehement in their opposition, partially because top-ranking USDA officials have formerly worked for biotech companies.
The report points to Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman's former position on the board of directors of the biotech company Calgene, later bought by Monsanto Co.
It goes on to note that Neil Hoffman, the Biotechnology Regulatory Services Director of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, formerly worked for the biotech firm Paradigm Genetics. Nancy Bryson, the agency's general counsel, once co-chaired her law firm's corporate biotechnology practice.
"These industry-linked appointees have helped to implement policies that undermine the regulatory mission of USDA in favor of the bottom-line interests of a few economically powerful companies," the report states.
This issue has been raised before, but Stokes said the report is the first of its kind to fully document the situation.
The report, titled, "USDA Inc.: How Agribusiness has hijacked regulatory policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture," was compiled by a group of authors that included representatives from the Defenders of Wildlife, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Center of Concern.
Stokes said even though some of the groups are usually on different sides of the fence, they all support "trying to give the farmer a fair shake."
The report offers four recommendations to the USDA to address the group's concerns. It calls for a reappraisal of the ethics rules to prevent government officials from overseeing policies that affect their former employers. It also calls for improvement of congressional involvement. The report also asks for an evaluation of whether the USDA can continue to serve as both a promoter and a regulator. Finally, it asks for further research on what it calls "revolving-door conflicts of interest" within the USDA.
"Progress on these measures will begin to turn USDA Incorporated back into an arm of government that represents the public," the report states.
Stokes said his goal is to make the public aware of what the group sees as conflicts and what they mean to small farmers and ranchers. He said he's optimistic that things will change once he gets his message out.
"Daylight is a wonderful disinfectant," he said.Billings Gazette
