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FARM GROUPS PLAN MADISON RALLY
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 -- 11:54 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
It looks like it will be another weekend of protests in Madison.
Family Farm Defenders, the Wisconsin Farmers’ Union and Land Stewardship project are organizing a “tractorcade” on the Capitol for Saturday at noon.
Athens-area farmer Tony Schultz is one of the organizers. He says many family farmers will be hurt by Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill and next biennial budget, as programs, like UW-Extension and BadgerCare, stand to lose funding.
"UW-Extension people help organize our grazing groups. There's BadgerCare, which 11,000 family farm members use because private insurance costs are often prohibitive," Schultz says, adding farm income doesn't always cover the cost of production.
Under Governor Walker’s plan, eligibility decisions for BadgerCare and other Medicaid programs would be taken away from the legislature and moved to a cabinet member.
Schultz says the debate over the budget isn’t so much about "union vs. non-union" or "public vs. private" as it is about the middle class vs. corporatism.
"There's an old and sacred alliance between farmers and workers. We're all producers. The public is becoming more aware of what (Gov. Walker) represents: it's the economic elite," Schultz claims, "and family farmers are not the economic elite."
Schultz says thousands of people, including at least 50 who plan to bring tractors, have already RSVP’d to attend the rally at the Capitol.
Of course, not all farmers share Schultz’s views.
The state’s largest farm organization, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, said in a statement last week they “applauded” Governor Walker’s proposal to reduce the structural deficit by 90 percent without raiding segregated funds. They went on to say, (quote) “Just as our Wisconsin farm families have always had to budget for a volatile economic climate, a budget plan for a frugal government must be based on a simple principle: Less income means less spending.”
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau is holding its annual Ag Day at the Capitol today. Their representatives could not be reached for comment.
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