Um, Not All Farmers Agree Dr. Kagen

Have to laugh every time I see a press release from Cong. Steve Kagen, MD (D-Appleton) which quotes the "Wisconsin Farmers Union." The WFU is a joke of an agricultural entity which was concocted by a bunch of liberals and "progressive" Democrats to battle the Wisconsin Farm Bureau in the 1930s.  Hell, on good years they may have only one-twentieth the membership of the Farm Bureau.

Say what you want about the Farm Bureau and its demands over the years - especially over land use property tax exemptions - but these are the guys who represent the bulk of farmers in the State of Wisconsin, not the Farmers Union.

They never have, they never will; and I speak that as the grandson of one of their most honored members.

So while Kagen can try to cover his backside with this...

Congressman Kagen has been working closely with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Colin Peterson to ensure that Wisconsin’s family farms are rewarded for their efforts to operate self-sustaining farms. Furthermore, this legislation will grow our economy and expand the market for biofuels and renewable energy by reclassifying all trees as agricultural products and all tree byproducts as renewable energy sources. Farmers and forest owners will benefit as well from the creation of a market-based carbon offset program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We have kept the EPA off our farms,” said Kagen.

[...]

“This forward-thinking legislation would not be possible without the hard work and support of Rep. Steve Kagen,” said Sue Breitlich, President of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. “He consistently puts Wisconsin’s family farmers at the forefront of his decisions, and his vote in favor of ACES is yet another example of his commitment to agriculture.”

The Farm Bureau had another take on Cap and Trade.

The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging all members of the House to vote “no” on a sweeping climate change bill that is scheduled for a floor vote on Friday and is asking them to vote “yes” on an amendment authored by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).

In a letter sent today to all 435 members of the House, AFBF President Bob Stallman said H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will “unquestionably impose enormous costs on the American economy, including agriculture.”

An AFBF economic analysis shows that at a minimum, net farm income will decline by $5 billion annually by the year 2020, if H.R. 2454 is passed.

“The $5 billion impact is under the most optimistic set of assumptions,” Stallman said. “Those estimates do not begin to tell the story of what will happen when the program mandated by this legislation fully takes hold.”

The Farm Bureau also released a study earlier this week (highlighted in the Invested Business Weekly) showing the per cow damage ACES would do.  Pity the 'high-minded, ex-journalists' on Kagen's staff didn't see it.

Farmers hope the USDA will be less intrusive. The EPA has been tasked by a Supreme Court ruling to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from your nostrils to your lawn mower. This even covers the emissions of barnyard animals, including the methane from cows.

The American Farm Bureau warns that cap and trade would cost the average farmer $175 on every dairy cow and $80 for beef cattle. So farm-state politics trumped climate change.

Emphasis mine.

So while Kagen will think he's got "the best interest of farmers" in mind, the reality is he's got a very small portion of radical, left-wing farmers (St. Senator Vinehout used to be their payroll.) who don't represent anywhere near the number of farmers, or the interests of the Farm Bureau does.  Last time I checked, no one cowers in fear in Madison (or Washington, DC for that matter) at when the "Farmers Union" is upset; they do when it's the Farm Bureau.

I highly doubt Kagen has received the endorsement of the Farm Bureau in his two previous runs for Congress, and I'm doubtful he'll get it for his third.