Agenda
21 is at work here in Georgia. There will be no small business in the future.
Large business doing the bidding of the bureaucrats. It is called
Private Public Partnerships and small business owners are not part of the
picture.
Georgia DOA putting small poultry growers out of business - Want to know why?
Mary Beth Sellars and her
family are one of about 50 pasture raised poultry growers in Georgia. They sell organic or natural, free
range chickens. These growers process from 100 to 5000 chickens annually
for food. They employ procedures to ready the chickens for market in accordance
with guidelines supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). They have a loyal customer base of Georgia restaurants and families. They also have a historic track record
of producing quality products at reasonable prices for those consumers. They
have never had a recall of products or any complaint filed to reporting
agencies within the Georgia Department of Agriculture. But the Georgia Department of Agriculture (DOA) is establishing new, still unpublished,
regulations for small poultry growers that are about to devastate their
businesses.
Newly drafted regulations would
require these growers to use indoor processing facilities that are only required
for large growers who raise 20,000 or more birds each year. The first problem
with this planned new requirement is that there are currently no indoor
processing facilities in Georgia where these growers could take their chickens to prepare them for
market. They would have to incur the costs of taking the chickens out
of the state for processing which would double the cost of the chicken to their
consumers. The other alternative is for the growers to build indoor,
multi-structure facilities according to DOA specifications that include
unnecessary requirements. The cost for Mary Beth to build such a facility would
be three times the total
annual earnings from her chicken sales. This cost is so high that
it could not even be covered with an increased price of chickens because it
would render her business non-competitive with large growers.
Nevertheless, she and all small growers will be forced to comply or lose
their ability to sell in markets or restaurants. I asked Mary Beth how would
the new regulations impact her. She replied:
“They would put me out of business.”
Other Georgia growers agree. They met in
April to determine how to combat the new regulations. They decided to form a
group named Georgia Pastured Poultry
Association to give them a stronger voice.
Some are already involved in a feasibility study to build an independent
processing plant in Georgia or a mobile processing unit that can travel to each
farm. But that would take at least 18 months to two years to implement. In the
meantime, I decided to contact the DOA and determine if what the growers
believe is really true. A DOA representative confirmed to me that new
regulations are being created. She also conceded that she knew of no previous
problems or complaints regarding pasture raised poultry products in Georgia. Since consumer protection was not an issue, I asked:
‘What is the purpose of the all the new regulations then?” She repeated several
times that the new regulations will “help”
the small growers. Although perhaps unknown to her, that is obviously a
blatant lie. When pressed, she eventually confirmed that processing structures
(not required under U.S.D.A. guidelines) will be required under the new
regulations. I then explained to her how the new regulations were not “helping”
the small growers, but would likely devastate them.
The new DOA regulations for
small poultry growers will also be costly to enforce if, in fact, the DOA can
enforce them at all. The regulations must be published, distributed and
maintained. New DOA agents must also be hired to regularly inspect farms around
the state and locate any new growers. Nevertheless, DOA chief, Gary Black, who
was elected in 2010, seems intent on implementing these restrictions.
Ironically, the planks of the Republican Party platform on which he ran for election
consistently advocate less regulation, less government spending, small business
friendliness and private property rights protection. Mr. Black’s leadership in
this regard has demonstrated the exact opposite mode of
operation than his 2010 candidate platform.
So
who benefits from the new regulations? It is not Georgia consumers who have experienced no problems with the current USDA
procedures used by these small growers. It is certainly not Georgia taxpayers who will have to pay
for the regulations. As is typical, one can follow the money to find an answer. Enter
Will Harris, of White Oak pastures, a founding member of Georgians for
Pastured Poultry.
Will Harris recently built the only USDA poultry
processing plant in Georgia. His farm stands to
make a half million dollars or more if he decided to open the new facility to
process the 100,000 or so chickens raised annually by small poultry growers in
Georgia. But as of this writing, the facility remains private, therefore, the
other growers will be forced to fold their businesses leaving a void of about
100,000 chickens to fill in the marketplace. This would create an even more
lucrative opportunity because guess who is the only Georgia farmer who could fill that void
in the marketplace. That’s right, it seems to be Will Harris, whose farm and
processing facility could handle the increase in production. Will also just
happens to be a major
campaign contributor to Gary Black, donating $6,100
to his 2010 election campaign. The new, oppressive regulations that Gary Black
wants to impose on small poultry growers will actually benefit his major campaign contributor greatly whether
White Oak processes the poultry for other growers or gains an in state monopoly on pastured poultry growing. For example, at $5 per chicken, an
additional 100,000 chickens that White Oak farms would be able to process and
sell to current customers of the small growers could amount to about $500,000
or more of extra revenue for the farm. This represents a near hundred fold return on the
investment made by White Oak farms in Mr. Black and
it does not even include the benefits of increased prices to all Georgia consumers that a future
monopoly on in state pastured poultry can bring to the farm.
But let’s be clear. There is
nothing wrong with Will Harris increasing his business to the maximum and
making as much money as he can. That is the American way of free enterprise.
There is also nothing wrong with him making a maximum contribution to any
politician of his choice. That is legally allowable. It is not even wrong for
Gary Black to accept such a generous contribution. What’s wrong with this
picture is when Gary Black decided to implement devastatingly new oppressive
regulations for small poultry growers and increase spending in his department
to enforce the regulations, all for the benefit of one of his major
campaign contributors. That is about as wrong as it
gets in public service. In fact, it leaves the lingering question of whether or
not the large contribution to Gary Black and his subsequent actions constitute
bribery under federal law.
The federal code, 18 USC § 201 - BRIBERY OF PUBLIC
OFFICIALS AND WITNESSES (b), defines
bribery in part as: (2)being a public official or person selected to be a public
official, directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts,
or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally or for any other
person or entity, in return for: (A)being influenced in the
performance of any official act;”
Was the donation that Will
Harris made to Gary Black a bribe? Perhaps that question is best answered by the office of our U.S.
Attorney.
Source: Garland Favorito
Comments:
The Agenda 21 plan is to
bankrupt small farms using the EPA, USDA, Interior, State laws, etc. The private partners
in these schemes are their cronies looking to create monopolies.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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