Sen. Cory Booker pitches bill to reform U.S. agriculture, protect farmers

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential candidate and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker unveiled a proposal Monday that aims to reform the U.S. agricultural industry by limiting corporate farming and holding such operations liable for their impact on the environment.

The Farm System Reform Act of 2019 targets vertical integration that places large corporations in control of all stages of the food chain, while leaving contract growers to absorb the risks and costs.

"Our independent family farmers and ranchers are continuing to be squeezed by large, multinational corporations that, because of their buying power and size, run roughshod over the marketplace," Booker said in a statement. "We need to fix the broken system -- that means protecting family farmers and ranchers and holding corporate integrators responsible for the harm they are causing.

"Large factory farms are harmful to rural communities, public health, and the environment and we must immediately begin to transition to a more sustainable and humane system."

The proposal would place a moratorium on new and expanding companies known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which are defined as having at least 1,000 cattle, 2,500 hogs or 82,000 laying hens. It aims to phase out the largest CAFOs by 2040 and allocate $100 billion over 10 years for a voluntary buyout for farmers who want to transition out of CAFOs.

Booker's bill would hold corporations accountable for environmental harm, estimating that CAFOs generate 1.4 billion tons of waste a year that can contaminate waterways with runoff pollution.

Further, it would amend the Packers and Stockyards Act to improve market transparency, prohibit tournament or ranking systems for paying contractors and protect farmers from retaliation. It also calls for mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, pork and dairy products, and prohibits imported meat from being labeled as "Product of USA."

Among the bill's supporters are Matthew Smith, New Jersey director for Food & Water Action; Mike Weaver, president of the Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias; and Randy Dugger, vice president of the Indiana Farmers Union Vice.

"I have seen first-hand how hard it is to challenge the multinational corporations who control the meat industry," Kansas rancher Mike Callicrate said. "Farmers and ranchers need a marketplace that compensates them fairly and Sen. Booker's Farm System Reform Act is a big step in the right direction.

"Things like country of origin labeling on meat, updates to the Packers and Stockyards Act, and resources to get folks out of a system that is bankrupting them will make a big difference."