Springfield, April 11, 2000: Prairie Rivers Network today released the report, Amber Waves of Gain: How the Farm Bureau is Reaping Profits at the Expense of America’s Family Farmers, Wildlife and the Environment. The report describes how Farm Bureau has used its considerable political power to build an agribusiness empire, while family farmers and the environment pay the costs.

In September of last year Prairie Rivers released Dirty Water, Dirty Business, a report which examined Illinois Farm Bureau’s policies, business interests, and their impact on the environment. The information in Dirty Water, Dirty Business is supported by the findings of Amber Waves of Gain and a recent 60 Minutes report on the Farm Bureau.

"For years the Illinois Farm Bureau has represented the interests of agribusiness, not the Illinois farmer," said Moore. To many this is not surprising, given the small percentage of Farm Bureua members that are farmers and the vast financial stake the Illinois Farm Bureau holds in agribusiness.

The Illinois Farm Bureau’s agribusiness interests are not only detrimental to the Illinois farmer, but detrimental to the environment as well.

Agriculture is the number one source of water pollution in Illinois. According to Illinois EPA:

• Over 500 water bodies are polluted by nutrients, such as agricultural fertilizers, which affect aquatic life, contaminate drinking water, and diminish the recreational use of our state’s waters, as well as water quality beyond our borders.

• About 470 water bodies are affected by siltation, causing our streams, lakes, and backwaters to slowly fill with silt, decreasing water storage capacity and decreasing the quality of wildlife habitat. State agencies estimate that 158 million tons of soil erode each year from croplands.
• Industrial-scale livestock and poultry operations impair over 130 water bodies.
• Agricultural pollutants, such as nutrients, sediments, and farm chemicals impair eighteen Illinois drinking water sources, forcing communities to invest in expensive treatment technologies.

They have also opposed local governments’ authority to curtail agricultural pollution. Even though Illinois Farm Bureau has repeatedly supported local authority over other environmental concerns, it opposes local control when those concerns include siting of mega-livestock facilities and controlling agricultural runoff.

Critics claim the Illinois Farm Bureau has failed to be a leader to the farming community. Instead they’ve elected to do nothing as long as they can ­ a strategy that benefits agribusiness according to critics.

Unfortunately for farmers, doing nothing is not a long-term solution. Eventually it is the farmer, not the Farm Bureau that will pay the price for inaction. Meanwhile agribusiness fortunes continue to increase while farmers’ fortunes slump ­ along with the environment.

"Agribusiness profits enormously from the status quo," stated Moore. "And the Farm Bureau has been a staunch defender of the status quo." Not surprising considering the tax-exempt Illinois Farm Bureau is an agribusiness giant itself, with ownership in over 52 companies including Country Companies Insurance, Growmark, and Prairie Farms Dairy.

On Tuesday Prairie Rivers Network called for the Illinois Farm Bureau to put its profits to work for farmers and the environment. They called on the Illinois Farm Bureau to:

Provide direct financial assistance to farmers trying to make the transition to more sustainable, conservation-minded, farming practices.

Turn over information on agricultural chemical sales of Farm Bureau-owned companies to the Illinois State Water Survey, U.S. Geological Survey, and Illinois EPA so these agencies can better estimate impacts to our waters by agricultural runoff

"If the Illinois Farm Bureau truly cared about stewardship and the family farmer, there would be more farmers in Illinois and less agricultural pollution in our rivers," said Moore. "Instead we have more pollution and fewer farmers."