U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is a P.R. organization of "more than 20 of the leading farmer- and rancher-led agricultural organizations" that have "joined together to fund programs that bolster the image of agriculture and enhance public trust in our food supply." The Alliance was formed in November 2010. They list as their objectives:


 * 1. Increase consumer, consumer influencer and thought leader trust and confidence in today’s agriculture.
 * 2. Serve as a resource to food companies on the benefits of today’s agricultural production.
 * 3. Work with leading health, environmental and dietary organizations to demonstrate the benefits of today’s agricultural production.
 * 4. Increase the role of U.S. farmers and ranchers as the voice of animal and crop agriculture on local, state and national food issues.

USFRA was formed in response to negative publicity for the agriculture industry, including "the release of videos that show male chicks being put into grinders, egg-laying hens in battery cages and the mistreatment of hogs in large confinement operations." Additionally, they cite opposition to genetically modified organisms, fertilizer, and pesticides as reasons for their creation. According to the USFRA, such negative publicity "threatens farmers' ability to produce food for the world's population." USFRA asserts that a mere 2 percent of farmers are the cause of the problems agriculture is criticized for by environmentalist and animal rights activists.

USFRA has hired the global advertising and PR agency Ketchum and "plans to launch a consumer-focused communications campaign this July [2011]." USFRA projects it will have a $20 million annual budget for each of its first three to five years. Ketchum has previously worked with other large agricultural clients, such as the United States Potato Board, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and ConAgra Foods.

Once the PR campaign launched, the group began describing itself in moderate terms, saying that USFRA represents "the first time agricultural groups at the national, regional and state levels have collaborated to lead the dialogue and answer Americans' questions about how we raise our food - while being stewards of the environment, responsibly caring for our animals and maintaining strong businesses and communities." However, the member organizations of USFRA overtly advocate radical anti-environmental agendas, also fighting against labor reforms, competition reforms, and animal welfare standards.

Funding
According to the New York Times, USFRA's members include the largest agriculture marketing groups in the country, with billions of dollars to spend. They include the American Egg Board (“The Incredible Edible Egg”) and the National Pork Board (“The Other White Meat”). Its $11 million annual budget comes partly from mandatory marketing fees that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) helps collect from farmers; and from corporations like Monsanto, the producer of genetically engineered seed, and DuPont, a major producer of chemical pesticides. Each company had committed to an annual contribution of $500,000, as of September 2011.

Criticism
Almost immediately after the group formed, Susan Schneider of the blog Agricultural Law wrote:


 * "The press releases issued by the new USFRA all seem to imply that if we just tell everyone how good agriculture is, the problems will go away. However, an ad campaign will not clean up wells contaminated by industrialized dairy operations.  It will not create more water when underground acquifers are depleted.  It will not halt the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.  It will not slow fossil fuel consumption.  It will not make our food any safer or pay our migrant workers a living wage.


 * "Shouldn't funds be spent to figure out ways to address these and other significant problems while preserving agricultural productivity? Wouldn't it be fantastic to see agricultural groups coming together to solve problems, or even more amazing -  coming together with consumer groups to discuss solutions to our problems?  Isn't an ad campaign just another way to pretend that the problems don't exist?


 * "Let's have an honest discussion, i.e., a dialogue about the sustainability of our food system - environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability (making sure that farmers earn enough to cover the costs of good production practices), not an ad campaign.  The farmers that I admire are the kind of people that step up to problems and are always looking for better ways to do things.  Not shoving problems under the rug and advertising complacency."

Tactics
According to the Huffington Post, USFRA uses social media (such as Twitter and Facebook) along with a PR campaign to promote its message. It has over 200,000 likes on Facebook. Many agriculture groups and farmers are also on Twitter, attempting to influence the discussion there. According to a report by the Center for Food Safety, USFRA has an economic agenda that favors the largest players and downplays the plight of small farmers, not to mention the public.

The Alliance cannot legally lobby the U.S. government because some of its members are check-off programs (organizations established by the government that collect money from their members used for marketing and research).

Food Dialogues
In August 2011, USFRA announced a September 22 event held in New York, DC, Indiana, and California called Food Dialogues. The town hall style meetings claim their purpose is "simply... to create a forum that, we hope, will result in all of us being better informed about issues that affect our lives, our health, our planet and our future." The 21 panelists that will be distributed among the four events include the top three board members of USFRA; Pamela Ronald, known for her controversial position that organic production methods and genetically engineered crops both have something to contribute to sustainable agricultural production; the CEO of one of the largest dairy farms in the country; and a farmer with 25,000 acres and several processing facilities in California. After attending the event, Anna Lappé concluded that it was not intended as a dialogue at all, but an industry-controlled forum for the largest players in agriculture to advocate their agenda. For more information, see the article on Food Dialogues.

Members
As of 2011, affiliates include:


 * Alabama Farmers Federation
 * American Egg Board (AEB)
 * American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF)
 * American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee
 * American Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers
 * American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT)
 * American National Cattle Women (ANCW)
 * American Sheep Industry (ASI)
 * American Soybean Association (ASA)
 * American Sugar Alliance
 * Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation
 * Association of Agriculture Production Executives
 * California Farm Bureau Federation
 * Cattlemen’s Beef Board/Beef Checkoff (CBB)
 * Dairy Farmers of America
 * Federation of State Beef Councils (FSBC)
 * Georgia Farm Bureau
 * Illinois Farm Bureau
 * Illinois Soybean Association
 * Indiana Farm Bureau Federation
 * Iowa Soybean Association
 * Kansas Farm Bureau Federation
 * Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation
 * Michigan Farm Bureau
 * Michigan Farm Bureau Family of Companies
 * Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council
 * Missouri Farmers Care
 * National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG)
 * National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)
 * National Corn Growers Association (NCGA)
 * National Cotton Council (NCC)
 * National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)
 * National Pork Board (NPB)
 * National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)
 * Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation
 * Nebraska Soybean Board
 * New York Farm Bureau Federation
 * North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation
 * North Dakota Soybean Council
 * Ohio Farm Bureau
 * Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
 * South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation
 * Southern Peanut Producers Federation (SPPF)
 * Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation
 * Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board
 * Texas Farm Bureau
 * U.S. Poultry and Egg Association (USPOULTRY)
 * U.S. Grains Council (USGC)
 * United Egg Producers (UEP)
 * United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh)
 * United Sorghum Checkoff Board
 * United Soybean Board (USB)
 * U.S. Soybean Federation (USSF)
 * USA Rice Federation
 * Virginia Farm Bureau Federation
 * Western Growers (WGA)

Industry Partners include:

Premier Partner Advisory Group
 * John Deere
 * Monsanto
 * DuPont

Industry Partners Council
 * BASF
 * Farm Credit
 * The Fertilizer Institute

Supporting Partners
 * Agri-Marketing
 * Agri-Pulse
 * Beck Ag

Board of Directors
The Board's executive committee, elected November 5, 2010 is as follows:
 * Chair: Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation
 * Vice Chair: Phil Bradshaw, United Soybean Board
 * Secretary: Bart Schott, National Corn Growers Association
 * Treasurer: Dale Norton, National Pork Board
 * At-Large: Gene Gregory, United Egg Producers
 * At-Large: Forrest Roberts, National Cattlemen's Beef Association

Additional board members are as follows:
 * Austin Brown, III, Beef Checkoff
 * Scott George, Federation of State Beef Councils
 * Dallas Hockman, National Pork Producers Council
 * Aaron Putze, director of external relations for the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA)
 * John Starkey, U.S. Poultry and Egg Association

Other organizations with board representation include:
 * American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee
 * Georgia Farm Bureau
 * Illinois Soybean Association
 * Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council
 * National Corn Growers Association
 * National Milk Producers Federation
 * Nebraska Soybean Board
 * Virginia Farm Bureau Federation

Management
U.S. Farmers & Ranchers was managed by Drake & Company, which was purchased in 2011 by AMR Management Services.


 * General Manager: Hugh Whaley
 * Associate Executive Director: Abby Rinne

Contact Information

 * U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance
 * 16020 Swingley Ridge Road, Suite 300
 * Chesterfield, MO 63017
 * Phone: (636) 449-5086
 * Email: info at usfraonline dot org or info at fooddialogues dot com
 * Web: www.usfraonline.org/ or www.fooddialogues.com

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Food Dialogues
 * Monsanto
 * Osborn & Barr
 * Hugh Whaley
 * DuPont
 * American Farm Bureau Federation

External resources

 * "Raise Your Voices," U.S. Farmers & Ranchers PR video, July 21, 2011.

External articles

 * Alli Condra, "A Rose by Any Other Name: The Food 'Dialogues'," Food Safety News, October 4, 2011.
 * Mark Bittman, "Polls Agree: Food ‘System’ Needs Fixing," New York Times, September 28, 2011.
 * John Hart, "Alliance Up For the Daunting Task Ahead," The Voice of Agriculture, American Farm Bureau Federation, September 26, 2011.
 * Sarah Gonzalez, "USFRA Food Dialogues engage consumers and aggies nationwide," Agri-Pulse, September 23, 2011.
 * Michele Payn-Knoper, "Thinking about food, Cause Matters Corp., September 23, 2011.
 * Anna Lappé, "Who’s Behind the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance and Why It Matters," Civil Eats, September 23, 2011.
 * Gabe Silverman, "Critics see spin in food issues campaign," Cedar Valley Business Monthly Online, September 23, 2011.
 * Jill Richardson," Hey Locavores, Astroturf is in Season!," La Vida Locavore, September 22, 2011.
 * "USFRA Holds First Town Hall Meeting in Indiana," FarmProgress.com, September 22, 2011.
 * Jill Richardson, "New Ag Front Group Releases Survey Data #FoodD," La Vida Locavore, September 22, 2011.
 * "Nationwide Surveys Reveal Disconnect Between Americans and their Food," USFRA, September 22, 2011.
 * AgChat Foundation, "New partnership expands support for telling agriculture’s story," Dairy Herd Network, September 19, 2011.
 * "AgChat and USFRA working together," AgChat Blog, September 16, 2011.
 * "U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance teams up with Monsanto," Food Freedom, September 15, 2011.
 * Jill Richardson, "Big Ag's Opposition Research," La Vida Locavore, September 13, 2011.
 * Nancy Huehnergarth, "Let the Big Ag Reframing Begin," New York State Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Alliance, September 12, 2011.
 * "U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance(SM) to Host the Food Dialogues on September 22, 2011," September 8, 2011.
 * Max Goldberg, "The $30 Million Propaganda War Begins," Living Maxwell, August 19, 2011.
 * "DuPont Supports U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance in Efforts to Enhance Public Trust in Modern Agriculture: DuPont Joins More than 40 Producer Organizations to Collaborate in Support of Today’s Farmers and Ranchers," PRWeb, June 13, 2011.
 * Mike Callicrate, US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, No-Bull Food News, April 21, 2011.
 * Tonya Garcia, "U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance Selects Ketchum," Media Bistro, March 25, 2011.
 * Michael J. Crumb, Farm Groups Form Alliance To Fight Bad Publicity On Animal Welfare, Biotech, Huffington Post, January 31, 2011.