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Agriculture

‘Stealing family farms’: Big Ag gets billions in taxpayer-funded loans while small farms starve

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Attorney Dustin Kittle (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

From LifeSiteNews

By John-Michael Dumais, The Defender

In a recent RFK Jr Podcast episode, attorney Dustin Kittle alleged the Farm Credit System, created to protect small farmers, now primarily serves corporate agriculture. Kittle claimed systemic corruption is forcing family farms off their land and concentrating control of the food supply.

The Farm Credit System (FCS), created nearly a century ago to save the family farm, now primarily serves corporate agriculture interests — even forcing small farmers off their land.

Attorney Dustin Kittle, a former cattle and poultry farmer turned agricultural law specialist, sounded the alarm on a recent “RFK Jr Podcast” episode, describing systemic corruption within FCS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Kittle told Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Children’s Health Defense chairman on leave, about a web of alleged misconduct, conflicts of interest and policy shifts that he claimed are decimating America’s family farms while enriching corporate agricultural giants and foreign investors.

Kittle’s crusade against these practices stems from personal experience. Raised on a farm in Geraldine, Alabama, he later found himself embroiled in a legal battle with the very system designed to protect farmers like himself.

The Farm Credit Administration (FCA), a federal agency charged with overseeing the FCS, took 657 days to investigate his case. After nearly two years, it concluded that while federal laws had been violated, it could offer no remedy as he was no longer a borrower in the system.

Kittle’s firm represents about 200 farmers facing similar challenges. “Those farmers … even though they can speak to me as their lawyer … are scared to death,” he told Kennedy.

Big Ag getting ‘billion-dollar loans’

FCS was established in 1933 during the Great Depression to support America’s farmers, but it has strayed far from its original mission, according to Kittle.

Kittle alleged that FCS made a “complete shift” around 2009, changing its mission from saving family farms to saving the agriculture industry as a whole.

The FCS began prioritizing large corporations over small farmers, “doling out loans to JBS [Foods]” and Tyson, he pointed out. “We are not talking about $100,000 lines of credit. We are talking about billion-dollar loans to those companies.”

Kittle contended that these policy changes also opened the door to foreign interests.

“I wouldn’t have even thought that U.S. Farm Credit, a government-sponsored enterprise, could do business dealings and … loans with foreign interests,” he said, noting that this practice began in 1997 “when they adjusted some loopholes.”

‘A manipulated plan to take that land’

As further evidence of farm credit policy failures, Kittle pointed to the 5 million family farms lost since FCS was created. “We are down to 1.8 million family farms,” he said.

Loan distress declarations are a prime example of how the system now serves corporate agricultural interests, Kittle said. The practice involves declaring loans in distress even when farmers are current on their payments.

“You might have a default provision in your mortgage that says, ‘If someone whose name is on that deed passes away, we can default on them,’” Kittle explained, illustrating the often arbitrary nature of these declarations.

“It was part of a manipulated plan to put pressure on the farmers to take that land,” Kittle told Kennedy.

Kennedy agreed that forcing farmers to hire lawyers is essentially “stealing family farms from the farmer using our federal dollars.”

Kittle said his loan was placed in distress in retaliation for representing a group of farmer-borrowers.

‘Zero oversight all the way to the top’

Kittle’s allegations extend beyond individual cases to what he described as systemic failures in oversight. “There is zero oversight all the way to the top” of FCS.

He pointed to structural issues within the FCA, where only one member serves on the board instead of the legally required three.

Kittle sued President Joe Biden, the FCA and others over this lapse.

He also criticized the political maneuvering that he believes contributes to this lack of oversight, citing an instance involving a nominee for the FCA board who was blocked from confirmation for two years.

Kittle pointed to conflict-of-interest issues. He alleged that Dallas Tonsager, who served as undersecretary at the USDA and as chairman of FCA, had business ties to Redfield Energy, a company involved in carbon capture technology for ethanol plants.

This resistance to outside oversight, Kittle argued, is symptomatic of a larger problem.

“We have an entity that was set up for the farmers, but we have created a lobbying branch that is going in and lobbying against the interests of the farmers,” he stated, referring to the Farm Credit Council‘s lobbying activities.

‘Running it as a private bank’

Kittle unveiled a disturbing practice within FCS that he argues amounts to an unauthorized and unregulated banking operation. The scandal, as Kittle described it, centers on loan assignment agreements.

FCA institutions require borrowers, particularly poultry farmers, to divert a significant portion of their income — sometimes up to 65% — into holding accounts as additional security for loans. However, these loans are already secured by the farmers’ land and are often backed by government guarantees.

“What happened in the state of Alabama, this is a tragedy that should be on the front page of every newspaper,” Kittle asserted. He revealed that over 1,000 poultry borrowers at Alabama Farm Credithad their funds, estimated between $60 and $100 million, effectively vanish from these holding accounts.

When questioned about the missing funds, Alabama Farm Credit reportedly told farmers the money would be applied to the end of their loans. However, farmers are still required to make regular payments, essentially paying twice.

“They’re running it as a private bank, but getting the benefits of government protection,” Kittle charged.

‘The last bastion of American independence’

Throughout the interview, Kittle emphasized the broader implications of these issues.

“Family farms is really the last bastion of American independence,” he declared, arguing that the loss of family farms threatens not just agriculture and the environment, but American democracy itself.

Corporate agriculture has got them,” he said of organizations like the Farm Bureau. It “has our government and we’ve got to do something to break that hold.”

Kittle called for a “national voice” to advocate for family farms and a return to “growing quality food as opposed to quantities of food.”

The attorney invited supporters to join his “Save Our Farms” campaign on X (formerly Twitter).

Watch the ‘RFK Jr Podcast’ on Spotify:

This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.

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Agriculture

Ottawa may soon pass ‘supply management’ law to effectively maintain inflated dairy prices

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From the Fraser Institute

By Jerome Gessaroli

Many Canadians today face an unsettling reality. While Canada has long been known as a land of plenty, rising living costs and food insecurity are becoming increasingly common concerns. And a piece of federal legislation—which may soon become law—threatens to make the situation even worse.

According to Statistics Canada, rising prices are now “greatly affecting” nearly half of Canadians who are subsequently struggling to cover basic living costs. Even more alarming, 53 per cent are worried about feeding their families. For policymakers, few national priorities are more pressing than the ability of Canadians to feed themselves.

Between 2020 and 2023, food prices surged by 24 per cent, outpacing the overall inflation rate of 15 per cent. Over the past year, more than one million people visited Ontario food banks—a 25 per cent increase from the previous year.

Amid this crisis, a recent academic report highlighted an unforgivable waste. Since 2012, Canada’s dairy system has discarded 6.8 billion litres of milk—worth about $15 billion. This is not just mismanagement, it’s a policy failure. And inexcusably, the federal government knows how to address rising prices on key food staples but instead turns a blind eye.

Canada’s dairy sector operates under a “supply management” system that controls production through quotas and restricts imports via tariffs. Marketing boards work within this system to manage distribution and set the prices farmers receive. Together, these mechanisms effectively limit competition from both domestic and foreign producers.

This rigid regulated system suppresses competition and efficiency—both are essential for lower prices. Hardest hit are low-income Canadians as they spend a greater share of their income on essentials such as groceries. One estimate ranks Canada as having the sixth-highest milk prices worldwide.

The price gap between the United States and Canada for one litre of milk is around C$1.57. A simple calculation shows that if we could reduce the price gap by half, to $0.79, Canadians would save nearly $1.9 billion annually. And eliminating the price gap would save a family of four $360 a year. There would be further savings if the government also liberalized markets for other dairy products such as cheese, butter and yogurt. These lower costs would make a real difference for millions of Canadians.

Which brings us back to the legislation pending on Parliament Hill. Instead of addressing the high food costs, Ottawa is moving in the opposite direction. Bill C-282, sponsored by the Bloc Quebecois, has passed the House of Commons and is now before the Senate. If enacted, it would stop Canadian trade negotiators from letting other countries sell more supply-managed products in Canada as part of any future trade deal, effectively increasing protection for Canadian industries and creating another legal barrier to reform. While the governing Liberals hold ultimate responsibility for this bill, all parties to some degree support it.

Supply management is already causing trade friction. The U.S. and New Zealand have filed disputes (under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) accusing Canada of failing to meet its commitments on dairy products. If Canada is found in violation, it could face tariffs or other trade restrictions in unrelated sectors. Dairy was also a sticking point in negotiations with the United Kingdom, leading the British to suspend talks on a free trade deal. The costs of defending supply management could ripple farther than agriculture, hurting other Canadian businesses and driving up consumer costs.

Dairy farmers, of course, have invested heavily in the system, and change could be financially painful. Industry groups including the Dairy Farmers of Canada carry significant political influence, especially in Ontario and Quebec, making it politically costly for any party to propose reforms. The concerns of farmers are valid and must be addressed—but they should not stand in the way of opening up these heavily regulated agricultural sectors. With reasonable financial assistance, a gradual transition could ease the burden. After all, New Zealand, with just 5 million people, managed to deregulate its dairy sector and now exports 95 per cent of its milk to 130 countries. There’s no reason Canada could not do something similar.

Bill C-282 is a flawed piece of legislation. Supply management already hurts the most vulnerable Canadians and is the root cause of two trade disputes that threaten harm to other Canadian industries. If passed, this law will further tie the government’s hands in negotiating future free trade agreements. So, who benefits from it? Certainly not Canadians struggling with food insecurity. The government’s refusal to modernize an outdated inefficient system forces Canadians to pay more for basic food staples. If we continue down this path, the economic damage could spread to other sectors, leaving Canadians to bear an ever-increasing financial burden.

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Agriculture

2024 harvest wrap-up: Minister Sigurdson

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As the 2024 growing season comes to a close, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson issued the following statement:

“While many Albertans were enjoying beautiful fall days with above-average temperatures, farmers were working around the clock to get crops off their fields before the weather turned. I commend their continued dedication to growing quality crops, putting food on tables across the province and around the world.

“Favourable weather conditions in August and early September allowed for a rapid start to harvest, leading to quick and efficient completion.

“The final yield estimates show that while the South, North West and Peace regions were slightly above average, the yields in the Central and North East regions were below average.

“Crop quality for oats and dry peas is currently exceeding the five-year average, with a higher rate of these crops grading in the top two grade categories. In contrast, spring wheat, durum, barley and canola are all grading in the top two grades at rates lower than the five-year average.

“Crop grading is a process that determines the quality of a grain crop based on visual inspection and instrument analysis. Factors like frost damage, colour, moisture content and sprouting all impact grade and affect how the grain will perform during processing or how the end product will turn out. Alberta generally produces high-quality crops.

“Farmers faced many challenges over the last few years and, for some areas of the province, 2024 was a difficult growing season. But Alberta producers are innovative and resilient. They work constantly to meet challenges head-on and drive sustainable growth in our agricultural sector.

“Alberta farmers help feed the world, and I’m proud of the reputation for safe, high-quality agricultural products that this industry has built for itself. Thank you to our producers, and congratulations on another successful harvest!”

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