Democrat Emphasizes Farm Recession and Need to Revitalize Rural Communities by Prioritizing Main Street Over Monopolies

Ankeny, IA – U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Scholten today rolled out his bold vision to help Iowa’s family farmers confronting a farm recession and consumers facing skyrocketing grocery costs.

Scholten said,

“I’m proud to be the first Senate candidate in the country to lay out my plan on how we fight for a farm and food system that serves the interests of consumers and farmers, not the profits of corporate monopolies. It’s outrageous that while farmers confront dire consolidation on both the input and output side, the Senate has yet to pass a Farm Bill that is desperately needed. Joni Ernst does not see the urgency, but I do. We need to get back to a farm system that values competition and conservation above all else.”

Scholten also noted the Trump Administration’s poor record fighting for farmers, stating, “During the first Trump term, he got rid of USDA’s antitrust agency for ranchers and farmers. He approved the Bayer-Monsanto merger. Now, after corrupt Brazilian meatpacker JBS donated $5 million to his inaugural, he lets them access Wall Street money and says he will no longer prosecute bribery from foreign countries. Previously, JBS was fined $256 million for their bribery crimes in taking over several U.S. companies.”

Scholten noted that the last and only time a Republican Senator in Iowa history has lost his re-election was in 1984 when Tom Harkin defeated Roger Jepsen when the farm economy was also facing a crisis. “I believe rural Iowa has been ignored for far too long by both parties and Iowans everywhere are fed up with being gouged at the grocery store,” he said. “Conditions are now ripe once again for change.”

Scholten’s “Fair Game Plan for Farmers and Us: Main Street over Monopolies” calls for the following:

• Bust up the Agriculture, Railroad and Food Monopolies and Implement a Strategic Fertilizer Reserve

• Allow for Right to Repair

• Reform Commodity Payments so It’s Not Just the Top .01% Benefitting

• Keep Farmland in Iowa Hands! Ban Foreign Ownership and Reduce Wall Street Buying up Farmland

• Label Made in USA Food with Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling

• Invest in Conservation, not “Get Big or Get Out” Policies

• Allow Easier Entry into Trucking

• Decentralize the Supply Chain: Invest In Local and Regional Food Systems

• Reform Checkoff System that Taxes Farmers Unfairly

• Invest in Homegrown Iowa Energy

• Stop Overregulation and Eminent Domain Abuses

• Immigration Reform that Treats Workers Fairly

READ THE FULL PLAN HERE

Watch J.D.’s “You’re Probably Getting Screwed” on the disastrous proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern Railroads HERE

Iowa farmers show support for J.D. plan:

Tony Thompson of New Family Farm said, “As the 4th generation on our family’s farm, I can tell you that the small, diversified operations that built the ag economy in Iowa are nearly extinct. The policies that J.D. is fighting for are what it will take to rebuild our rural economy.”

John Gilbert of Gibraltar Farms noted, “As an athlete, J.D. learned early the importance of fair play, and the critical importance of referees and umpires. He understands that our current economic system is anything but fair for consumers, small businesses, but especially for farmers and rural Iowans. That’s why J.D.’s approach to strengthening farmers’ bargaining position in the marketplace  —  as both buyers and sellers — is the right one for farmers, their neighbors, and all consumers.”

LaVon Griffieon of Griffieon Family Farm, “We haven’t had a Farm Bill pass since 2018 and Washington doesn’t seem to care. Since then, we had the COVID crisis that exposed how fragile our consolidated food system is. One meatpacking plant going down can affect a whole industry’s ability to provide food for consumers! That’s why I believe in J.D.’s call for decentralized supply chains and ways to better connect consumers to farmers with regional food systems.”

David Rosmann of Rosmann Family Farms said, “In the last fifty years, the tight connection of livestock and land was severed. Then in the late 90s, the independent pork industry was all but destroyed. And now, the independent beef industry would be next thanks to four meatpackers controlling the market. This is all thanks to monopolies being allowed to operate as if antitrust laws never existed in this nation. J.D.’s plan is sorely needed for us independent farmers to survive and thrive.”