The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
"Don't Let The Weeds Get The Best Of You!"
I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday and proper time was allowed to pay respect for those who have gone on to their just reward, and especially for those veterans that sacrificed for the Freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of this great country.
It seems Iowa Senator Charles Grassley has doggedly investigated and run onto something "lower'n a a dawg's belly" (not having any good qualities).
I've held off on this till now because my "ole pappy" taught us "not to start chopin" till we has treed th' coon!" (not to jump to conclusions).
Senator Grassley wrote a letter to those who have really "gone to th' dogs" (really have better qualities, but has turned bad).
In all, Grassley sent letters to 13 Iowa companies that are members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), who have mounted a high-priced misleading smear campaign against the farmer-driven value-added projects called Ethanol.
These projects have ultimately contributed to Midwest prosperity, derived from improved commodity prices.
The propaganda used by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and its high-paid lobbying firms in Washington D.C. are patently false and meant to mislead for their own selfish and greedy gains.
Their stated goal was to "obliterate" Ethanol and to utilize gullible, although good intentioned food aid and environmentalists, in their effort by making alliances with them, misleading them with untruths, and using their names to validate their lies.
It seems like "it's the weeds that grow th' best" (dishonest people appear to prosper) and these folks, as you all know by now, have been quite successful at launching their misleading smear campaign with their own contrived version for the rising cost of food. The GMA's hired gun has worked efficiently for them.
Included on Senator Grassley's list of Grocery Manufacturers Association membership are:
Archer Daniels Midland, Barilla America, Cargill, ConAgra Foods, Dean Foods Company, General Mills, Hormel Foods, Kraft Foods, Land O'Lakes, Pinnacle Foods Corp., Procter and Gamble, Ralston Foods, and Sara Lee.
"Give "em an inch, an' they'll take a mile!" (bad character, will take advantage of you). I'm addin' "em to my Dishonor Roll, givin' "em a Badge of dishonor, and nominating them to the "Hall of Shame."
In the Hall of Fame, with their badge of honor includes such firms as Monsanto and John Deere for defending the truth.
In days to follow, ag producers will try to differentiate between those in "The Hall of Shame" and those in the "Hall of Fame."
One of those companies in the "Hall of Shame," ADM, has on two separate occasions, committed officers to the pokey for their business dealings.
Their executive leader has close, former business relationship with "Big Oil," the protected species and real culprit in this inflation battle.
Another company, Cargill, several years back, busted the soybean market by threatening to ship soybeans up-river from Brazil.
The soybean market never fully recovered, and farmers, along with Midwest communities, union workers that build machinery, agri-business and many other job related Midwesterners suffered.
Now, Cargill is associated with the GMA who is at it again! They try to lock up your grain with grain bin loans and College Education schemes, all the while knowin' the farmer was desperate for profits.
You can't make a silk purse outta' a sow's ear!" (can't make good if traits not right).
The East and West coast did not share in the economic suffering at that time, and the fact that the farmer couldn't build his own bins or educate his own children tells you something about his economic plight!
More than just farmers suffer economic set back if GMA is successful in setting back farmers gains. Union workers, at John Deere, Cat, fertilizer companies, county governments, civil workers, schools, etc., are all reliant on income from the farmer doing well.
These companies, with their strategy to set back Midwestern gains, hide behind the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) with its plan to "obliterate" the gains of the farmer owned Ethanol plants, further increasing their monopoly over grain purchases,
Who do you suppose will stand ready to purchase those "obliterated" producer-owned plants for cents on the dollar, if their mission is successful?
A wrong answer here qualifies you for some stock that is for sale in the Brooklyn Bridge!
It is a fine "How do you do," verging on illegal constraint of trade and unfair competition, in my opinion. The result was a bad mouthin' game of "Food vs. Fuel" and to "heck with the American farmer" and our Midwestern communities.
By checkin' the income on the Internet of these food and food-related companies, their greedy goal appears to strive to make more $millions$ by beatin' back the farmer, and lettin' the American taxpayer make up the difference.
Some sez they are only members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association to influence positively. Well, "you cain't put one foot in two shoes at one time!" (can't take two opposite positions).
No judge in this great land of ours would find the man guiltless, drivin' the get-away car from a bank robbery on the claim "he was only tryin' to prevent an accident and protect innocent people during the frenzy of the heist!"
The GMA is mindful, to me, of a Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker appearing on our farm this Spring, suckin' Êvital juices from freshly planted saplings.
As a youngster, I remember the Carnival con-artists comin' to our small rural communities passin' out the hope you might win somethin' by liftin' a duck, all the while knowin' what you won was fairly well worthless. ÊThey played both ends against the middle and you "for the fool!" That was the trick, indeed! And the recent GMA con-game does not speak well for their respect for the American consumers' intelligence.
I have grubbed out a livin' by farmin' the land for nearly one-half a century, long before many of these "young pup" executives of the GMA, who are intent on "obliterating" the farmers' gains, was out of diapers. I have experienced many ups and downs in farmin,' some contrived, some weather related, and some health related.
The risks were many, oft times than not. Others, such as those in the GMA, received their rewards from the sweat of my brow.
As far as the "food for fuel" argument goes, I remember the time a large percentage of American farms grew oats and Timothy hay to fuel the horses.
All of those farms acreage are now planted to grain-some exported, some utilized locally for meat, milk, and poultry, and some for Ethanol.
Record export levels and cheap food, in relation to the rest of the world, have resulted from the American farmers efficiencies.
But, once again, the likes of those members of the GMA have, for the most part, received their greatest reward for the farmers' efforts and the toil of his labors.
Some countries in Europe and Asia distinctly proclaimed they didn't want my GMO crops. Conveniently, this played into the GMA memberships' hands by providing an over-surplus of crops and cheap grain for them to capitalize on.
The American farmer and community minded investors took those countries at their word and incurred the risk of developing new markets through local value added projects such as Ethanol production facilities, noodle factories, and corn starch food plate manufacturing.
With these value-added alternatives, and others like them in the mix, the producer and local communities are not solely reliant on taxpayers' government dollars for their profits.
Also, the American farmer is no longer held hostage to artificial trade barriers, of the European Economic Union and Asian markets, which limited their sales alternatives.
Now, farmers help the American taxpayer by lowering government subsidies and providing a reasonably priced product to clean up our air.
At the same time, the genetically modified corn (GMO) he grows is not near the issue it once was, and U.S. grain exports assist in off-setting oil dollar outflow and help with America's balance-of-trade problem.
Why would we not want to protect the most efficient food producing entity that the world has ever known by making it economically viable through value-added projects?
These Mega-firms had it quite good. Keep prices low, which they paid for the farmers grain, let the American taxpayer provide the only profit to the farmer through the government program and taxpayer dollars, and the farmer gets all the blame.
The Mega-firms, get all the profits. Now, they hide behind the GMA, pretending all the while to be the farmers' friend and the GMA gets the blame, if caught. ÊA shell game at its best!
The farmer was treated like a "milk cow" to the Mega-firms. Not given enough profit to get fat, but allowed enough gain, with government intervention, to keep producing the milk for the Mega-firms to have tremendous gains. We were treated as "the value adder" for them and they, as time now demonstrates, felt they owned us.
They now express great indignation that the American farmer is striving for something better for his family and community.
As any people striving to break the forces of economic tyranny, we do not cherish the thought of their "obliterating" our gains-driving us back to economic servitude.
But, times have changed. The dollar is devalued. Income of third-world countries demand better calorie-rich diets. And, OPEC-rigged oil prices are crippling our economy!
Producers now have other marketing choices to sell their commodities to, rather than to those with their membership in the Grocery Manufacturers Association-spreading their lies and propaganda through these high paid-top gun lobbyists, financed by profits gained by orchestrated cheap sales of farmers grain in past years.
"Makin' no bones about it" (frank and forthright), me and my family, and my neighbors that know the truth, are not selling to anyone belongin' to the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
Any company associated with theÊGMA, "which lies so much they hasta' hire someone to call th' dog" (even the dog won't believe them) does not get my business.
I'm sellin' to uni-train grain loaders, livestock producers, and value added projects such as Ethanol plants, and not to elevators doing business with members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
I'm askin' what their motives are beforehand, strong in my convictions, and sellin' my crops to those who are loyal to the Midwest rural communities and the good ole U.S. of A.
These GMA companies "gotta' bite th' bullet (face consequences for their actions) because the "chicken's comin' home to roost!" (they'll be held responsible for their actions).
As push comes to shove, producers are responding to the lies of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Let's hope all others dependent on the farmers' prosperity, join in defense of the rural communities' cause, clean air, and the energy crises.
CATCH YA LATER,
Barnyard Bruke