New bill aims to reimburse farmers for property damage

Aug 03, 2021

The legislation would use unobligated money from the American Rescue Plan to support farmers

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A new bill introduced in Congress would support producers who experienced property damage because of mass migration.

Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Republican Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11) and other Texas representatives tabled H.R. 4896 on July 30.

The resolution directs the Secretary of Agriculture to “establish a program to provide reimbursement to agricultural producers for losses sustained due to illegal immigration.”

Funding for such a program would come from the American Rescue Plan.

The legislation would direct about $300 million of unused funds from the plan to help producers offset property damage repair costs.

Farmers shouldn’t have to bear responsibility for property damages they didn’t cause, Rep. Gonzalez said.

“When fencing on ranch land is cut due to increased migration, it takes a serious financial toll on South Texas farmers and ranchers,” he said in a statement. “I support this bipartisan bill to reimburse these landowners and ensure they have the necessary funds to restore their property. We must continue working together to address the root causes of migration to prevent these incidents from happening.”

Farmers have expressed property damage concerns this year because of illegal immigration.

On Aug. 2, Brent Smith, a Texas rancher from Kinney County told Fox & Friends his property sustained about $60,000 worth of damage because of people trespassing through his farm and insurance companies are likely to present landowners with the bill when damage does occur.

“If it’s a stolen vehicle that goes through the property their vehicle insurance isn’t going to pay for it and ours won’t either, so the landowners are stuck paying for this,” he said.

In May, farmers told Border Report about instances of crop damage or even having to provide care for migrants who became ill drinking dirty water.

Industry groups support the bill.

Farmers along the Texas-Mexico border face unique challenges compared to producers in other states.

“These hardworking families are enduring additional costs due to cut fences, vandalized property, stolen equipment and more,” Russell Boening, president of the Texas Farm Bureau, said in a statement. “While a long-term fix to our nation’s border crisis is desperately needed, this assistance will help struggling producers in the meantime.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association also supports the legislation.

“As stewards of large sections of the Southern Border, ranchers suffer a disproportionate share of the burden associated with illegal border crossings,” Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement. “We are extremely grateful to (the representatives) for their bipartisan support for ranchers whose land and livelihood have been harmed by the border crisis.”

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.