Nuisance complaints | North Dakota Farmers Union opposes referendum measure
North Dakotans will vote Nov. 6 on a referendum to prevent activists from meddling with the state’s agricultural industry.
The referendum, known as Measure 3, is a proposed amendment to North Dakota’s constitution. It bars the passing of laws that curtail “the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices.”
In simple terms, it protects North Dakota farmers from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other out-of-state activists, says Jeffrey Missling, executive vice-president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau.
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“I don’t want radical groups from outside North Dakota trying to impose a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle on me,” Missling wrote in a letter to the editor published in AgWeek, a farm publication in the state.
“I enjoy eating meat, and groups such as PETA and the Humane Society of the United States should not be able to dictate the types of farming and ranching practices and technologies we employ in North Dakota, like they already have in many other states.”
The Farm Bureau and farm groups representing soybean and grain growers support the measure.
One of the primary targets of the constitutional amendment is the Humane Society of the U.S., which has sponsored successful referendums in California and other states that ban sow gestation stalls and chicken crates.
“I think there is more of a recognition, in recent years, of what the Humane Society of the United States is really all about,” Julie Ellingson, executive vice-president of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association, said earlier this year.
“The frustrating thing for us in animal agriculture is that the HSUS is a savvy marketer. They do a good job of getting donations from well-meaning people through ads for sappy eyed dogs and cats and polar bears.”
The state’s largest farm organization opposes Measure 3.
On its website, the North Dakota Farmers Union says the constitutional amendment doesn’t require farmers to adhere to “sound agricultural practices or operate without negligence.”
Measure 3 only protects the right to use “modern practices,” the NDFU says.
“It’s very broadly written, which means it’s left up to a lot of interpretations,” said NDFU president Woody Barth.
He also said the amendment isn’t necessary because North Dakota farmers are already protected by right-to-farm legislation.
Measure 3 will prohibit any law, including local laws on water and animal cruelty, that infringe upon modern agriculture. The NDFU says on its website this will remove local authorities’ influence over agricultural practices in the state.
“The federal government might (become) the entity that regulates agriculture in North Dakota,” Barth said. “We’d much rather have local control, on a county level or the state of North Dakota.”
Barth wasn’t sure if the measure will pass, but said it will be close.
