Dakota Ag Groups Protest Ads
In Anti-Corporate Campaign

PIERRE, S.D. —(AP)— Officials from several South Dakota farm groups complained last Thursday that the Farmers Union and others urging passage of a constitutional amendment limiting corporate agriculture have hurt the image of the farm industry.

Radio and television commercials urging voters to approve Amendment E contained falsehoods and distortions about meat safety and threats of farm pollution, said Mike Held, administrative director of the Farm Bureau.

A private poll done two and a half weeks before Election Day showed a 50-50 split on the amendment among voters, he said, adding that the last-minute advertising campaign must have swayed a majority in favor of the proposal.

Walt Bones of Parker, representing the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, said the reputation of the farm and ranch industry was damaged by the false advertising.

"The perception that was being exploited on those ads is something that's going to take a long time to overcome," he said.

"One side got more votes than the other, but I'm not sure there were any winners when it comes to agriculture," Bones said. "There was some damage done to the credibility of the No. 1 industry in this state, and that's going to take some time to heal."

Opponents of the amendment, which was approved 59 percent to 41 percent, could not say Thursday if they would mount a legal challenge in hopes of getting it declared unconstitutional.

Nor would they say if they would resort to a 1994 state law that allows lawsuits to be filed for monetary damages when someone unfairly disparages agricultural products. Critics of that law have said it would not pass muster on constitutional grounds because it attempts to throttle freedom of speech.

Farmers Union president Dennis Wiese said Thursday that the commercials accurately depicted the problems that could occur if large corporations take over the agriculture industry.

"Corporate hog farms have blackened the eyes of hog producers," he said. "Unfortunately, they were invited to South Dakota by some groups that should know better."

The amendment, which bans nonfamily-farm corporations from growing crops and owning or raising livestock in South Dakota, will make it more difficult for farmers to stay afloat, said Tom Farnsworth, executive secretary of the state Pork Producers Council. Many options to go into business with others have been eliminated by the measure, he said.

"It's taken away some of those hopes that these people could incorporate and bring in the dentist from town, the nonfamily farmer to work with them," he said. "They've been attacked and disgraced by ads runs by the Farmers Union."

But Wiese said the ballot issue has been settled by voters, and it's time to move on.

"There's no more to be said. The party's over. It's not an issue for us any longer," he said. "The voters approved the amendment overwhelmingly in almost every county."

And Wiese said he is certain that Amendment E would withstand a constitutional review.

"There's no legal basis for a challenge because this has been tested elsewhere in the courts a number of times."