Fighting Against Smithfield's China-backed National Security Threat

The past year has been quite interesting and we’ve seen a wide array of discussions in the more than 400 in-person meetings our American family farmers have conducted on Capitol Hill in support of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act that seeks reform for USDA's Commodity Checkoff Programs, and against the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act that’s being forced upon family farmers by U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-PA, and his cohorts at the Chinese multinational conglomerate Smithfield, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

We continue to face personal attacks from these groups because they can’t win on the merits of the argument in a policy debate and I honestly have to wonder how many politicians they've bought and paid for in the swamp. Thompson’s House Farm Bill that was marked up in the Committee last month not only contains a version of the EATS Act that would nullify hundreds of state laws including California's Prop 12 and Massachusetts’ Question 3; but it also fails to address the scandal-ridden checkoff programs that have long-been illegally lobbying against farmer interests and in support of policies that benefit the Big Four Packer Mafia that runs the American Meat Cartel. EATS is a direct threat to our national security and there's big news coming soon from the intelligence community on that front. The Chinese even bragged about it here in a recent article published by China Weekly, a publication also owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

And to top it off last week, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-AR, included language in his Farm Bill outline that appears to mirror the House EATS provision Thompson is pushing. One of the key problem children on Capitol Hill on this issue is a staffer named Caleb Crosswhite – who now works on Boozman’s Committee staff and previously worked for Thompson’s Committee in the House. In the absolute worst meeting I’ve ever had on Capitol Hill in 20 years, Crosswhite treated American family farmers, the board members at the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), and leaders of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association, National Dairy Producers Organization, Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias, and Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, with such disrespect that it was clear we wouldn’t be making any progress with Thompson’s team on these issues. Now with Crosswhite on the Senate side we are going to have to get very creative. I honestly hope the American Meat Cartel hires the guy away from the Committee - that alone would be a huge win for American producers fighting for their survival from being put out of business by Smithfield.

At this stage in the game the Farm Bill is skating on thin ice and may or may not see action on the House floor this year. If no action is taken by the end of September then another extension will be necessary, and we won’t likely see a final Farm Bill until the 119th Congress that begins in 2025. With the current landscape, no new Farm Bill might be the best case scenario for our cause as the current language would put countless farmers and ranchers out of business. Make no mistake, some agriculture committee leaders are not working for the American family farmer or the American people, they are working for China, the CCP, NPPC, NCBA, and the Four Big Packer Monopoly.

On the upside, our fourth Farm Bill Summit and Fly-In held in May continued the momentum our Farm Bill Coalition has built and amplified family farmer voices in Washington. We conducted nearly 80 meetings in-person on the Hill and had a superb event at our new offices located at the Conservative Partnership Center. Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is also a former Member of the House and longtime friend I know from church, attended our event on the final night. He’s truly a states’ rights and limited government ally and a friend to farmers and ranchers across the nation.

At the very least between our work on Capitol Hill, and OCM's terrific annual meeting recently held in Biloxi, Miss. - with the state's Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson, the U.S. Dept. of Justice's Michael Kades, and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Andy Green - we have certainly ignited those who want to hand American agriculture over to the Chinese. Our enemies are paying close attention to our work by sending slanderous emails to Capitol Hill, have attempted to hack our email accounts, shut down our social media accounts, and even tried to block our online donation links. That's a clear sign they are petrified of being exposed for the illegal and corrupt activities they are engaged in. We are literally fighting against the mafia and I've personally had to recently take extreme security measures for my own personal physical protection.

While the current Farm Bill situation looks grim, there is always hope and we have strategies developed for both the OFF and EATS Acts once the Farm Bill hits the House floor. The most important thing you can do today to help is call your Members of Congress at 202-225-3121 and ask them oppose the House Farm Bill in its current form due to the inclusion of the EATS language and lack of attention to checkoff reform. You can also donate to Competitive Markets PAC at this link as well.

In closing, and on a more positive note, I also want to thank the Organization for Competitive Markets for granting me the great honor of receiving this year’s John Helmuth Award at the annual convention last month – it was truly a pleasant surprise that I never saw coming and I am deeply humbled to have been granted such a distinguished honor. The work we do each day is very rewarding – despite the personal attacks – because I know that we are on the right side of history and that God is with us.

Marty Irby is a board director and secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets and president and CEO of Competitive Markets Action who was named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023, and resides in Washington, D.C.