The Militant - April 17, 2006 -- Midwest farmers donate tractors to farmers in South affected by Katrina

Vol. 70/No. 15 April 17, 2006

Midwest farmers donate tractors
to farmers in South affected by Katrina
(front page)

BY KARL BUTTS
PETAL, Mississippi—In a demonstrative act of solidarity with southern Mississippi farmers affected by Hurricane Katrina, five donated farm tractors were delivered on the bed of an 18-wheeler to the Indian Springs Farmers Cooperative April 1. Some 25 farmers and activists involved in Family Farm Defenders, which is based in Wisconsin, participated in delivering the “Project Tractor” donation. Joining them were a half dozen members of the cooperative. The solidarity action received substantial publicity in the local press.

Mike McNair, the co-operative‘s marketing specialist, told the Militant, “This donation by the Family Farm Defenders is certainly welcome and will help us to produce more and keep production going during critical times. Most of the farmers in nearby co-ops are either borrowing or sharing tractors.”

The tractors were donated to the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, the state chapter of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, which grew out of the civil rights movement. It helps Black farmers fight foreclosures and loss of their land.

At a panel discussion with representatives of Family Farm Defenders and the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, Randy Jasper, a dairy and grain farmer from Muscoda, Wisconsin, emphasized that the tractors were not charity but solidarity in the struggle by working farmers to keep from being driven out of farming. Jasper said this after hearing Darnella Burkett, who farms with her father and works on the co-op staff. She described the fight to maintain production levels with the limited resources available to co-op members and the constant pressure from real estate speculators to sell out.

Joel Greeno, a Wisconsin dairy farmer who heads up Family Farm Defenders’ “Project Tractor,” said he was committed to this effort through his experience. His family lost everything in a farm foreclosure. He said that has motivated him to find ways to prevent this from happening to other farmers.

During a visit to co-op member Donnie Pen-Travis’s farm, Greeno said, “The Tractor Project is a way to bring people together, an effort to unite around.” He added, “While we’ve been here we’ve been having discussions on helping farmers get into potential markets where we are and on the sharing of goods. The whole purpose is to buy some time, make it a little easier, and get through these difficult times. We can’t afford to lose another farmer.”

John Kinsman, a Wisconsin dairy and tree farmer and president of Family Farm Defenders, said he thought they were the ones who have gained the most from this effort and that “this is just the beginning.”

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