North Dakota Vote

Does anyone have an opinion on the North Dakota Vote on the legality of corporate farms tomorrow? Just interested Jim

A "readers poll" by Farm Forum Green Sheet indicated: 40% for corporate ownership, 60% against.

The trouble lays in what is a Corporate farm. Our family farming operation is incorporated. So are we a corporate farm???? The long and short of it is that farms are getting larger. This treads has been going on for over 100 years in the US. The model of a farm working on 160 acres never has worked. So as soon as the plains were settled that way the farms have been combining.

The average American does not have any idea of what the term "Corporate Farm" actually means. They think of Corporations like GM or Ford owning/operating farms. There is actually very few of those types of corporations operating farms. Want know why that is so??? The average farm works on smaller margins than most corporations would even think of working on.

So the North Dakota vote will largely be meaningless in the long term. It actually may hurt the smaller farms first as these type of laws can easily restrict loans and business structures that are helpful to smaller farmers.

An example is very close to me. We built a hog finishing building this last Fall/winter. That building is how my youngest son will be able to get into farming full time. Under the North Dakota law this type of operation can not happen. Why??? Easy the building, hogs, and feed are not owned by ALL family members. There are two co-owners that are non- family members. Those two owners own 40% of the total. It takes eight family members to make up the balance. We could not have built the building without the two non family members being involved.

The reality of farming today requires millions of dollars of assets to produce a profit to support a single family. The margins are that tight these days. The days of a farm grossing $50,000/$100,000 annually and supporting a family are long gone. A million dollar gross will just barely match a good town job when you figure benefits. So do you know very many young people with that kind of capital to start farming on their own full time???

The corporate farming laws are a feel good type of law that can be pushed by populists with little "REAL" knowledge if the full effect of limited ownership. They actually help cause fewer small farms.

Jim, Have you read/do you understand ND "Measure 1"?

It is NOT a simple yes or no vote for or against corporate farming.

If I understand it correctly, it is about blocking or not blocking a law the Legislate passed in 2015 allowing LIMITED corporate farming.

The North Dakota Farm Bureau has filled a lawsuit seeking to get the original 1930's law declared unconstitutional allowing corporate farming on a much wider scale, this lawsuit will be more far-reaching and important than how the vote on Measure 1 turns out.



" North Dakota is one of ONLY nine states ? all in the Midwest and Great Plains ? with anti-corporate farm laws."

" legislators said they believe the law is unconstitutional on a number of grounds:
it is an "undue burden to interstate commerce;"
it "limits the ability of North Dakota farmers to obtain investors, which adversely affects their ability to secure financing, which is crucial to keeping their farm operations viable;"
and it "treats similarly situated individuals differently, affording to some corporations, limited liability companies and other persons opportunities while denying this opportunity to others."

IMHO, it's about time we got out of an antiquated mindset and get on the same page as most other states. I hope the Farm Bureau prevails.

NOT sure, though, how many voters will take the time to figure out which way to vote to best serve their beliefs! Initiated measure can be TRICKY.
Explanation