Wisconsin Ag Connection - Groups Organizing 'Tractorcade' in Madison to Protest Budget

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Groups Organizing 'Tractorcade' in Madison to Protest Budget
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 03/09/2011

Two Wisconsin farm organizations are sponsoring a 'Farm Labor Tractorcade' on the capitol square in Madison this weekend to protest Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget repair bill and 2011-2013 state budget. The Wisconsin Farmers Union and Family Farm Defenders say their event will be held at noon on Saturday and will include music and presentations by farmers speaking out against the governor's proposals--specifically how the budget repair bill would threaten BadgerCare--a state-run health insurance program that more than 11,000 farm-family members depend on for coverage.

"There's plenty in the bills which, if they're passed, would really hurt farmers and rural communities," said WFU President Darin Von Ruden. "Our members have been telling us they want their voices heard, so we're giving them the forum for the governor and Legislature to get the message that there are problems with the bills."

Von Ruden went on to say that the biennial budget takes more than $800 million from public schools while allowing no levy increases without referendum. The WFU feels those actions would force small rural schools to either increase farmers' property taxes by hundreds of thousands of dollars or drastically cut programs.

Family Farm Defenders Vice President Joel Greeno says farmers need to stand behind workers and their freedom to collectively bargain.

"All farmer cooperatives depend upon the same principle, so any attempt to take away that right needs to be challenged," Greeno says. "If you lower the bar for anyone, you ultimately lower it for everyone else. Just because farmers are going bankrupt due to unfair prices doesn't mean workers should lose living wages, too."

Not all agricultural groups are opposed to the governor's budget plans. Last week, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation sent a memo saying 'the proposal to reduce the structural deficit by 90 percent without raiding segregated funds is a good thing' and that Wisconsin farm families have always had to budget for a volatile economic climate themselves.

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