Bernie Sanders introduces 'rebuild rural America' proposals

OSAGE, Iowa — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., unveiled a broad package of proposals on Sunday aimed at aiding rural communities, including the breaking up of major agriculture corporations and the transitioning of the U.S. commodity industry toward a system in which the government sets commodity production and pricing based on demand, much like Canada’s dairy industry, to guarantee farmers’ “cost of production and family living expenses.”

“This growing monopolization of agriculture is unfair to food producers. It is unfair to consumers. It is unfair to the environment,” the Democratic presidential candidate said from behind a podium at the Mitchell County fairgrounds, looking out onto about 100 Iowans seated in chairs or the set of risers under the pavilion. “Together, we are going to change that system.”

The Vermont senator’s package of proposals, which he touted as a "radical policy change," signals the Democratic presidential candidate’s quest to win over the largely agricultural-focused voters who heavily favored President Trump’s candidacy in 2016.

The series of proposals lays out an aggressive effort to break up large agriculture corporations through “Roosevelt-style trust-busting laws.” Sanders proposed placing a moratorium on future mergers between large agribusinesses.

In perhaps his most significant proposal, Sanders laid out his desire to transition the U.S. commodity industry toward supply management programs in which the federal government would work with farmers to determine the amount of product needed from an operation to meet the demands of the marketplace while guaranteeing a price for the product that would ensure those farmers earn a “living wage.”

On trade, Sanders provided few details about his vision. He did not lay out his thoughts on President Trump’s continued use of tariffs, with is plan saying he plans to “develop fair trade partnerships that do not drive down the prices paid to food producers and that, instead, protect farmers here and abroad.”

His plan also proposes: Aiding beginning farmers with investments in land acquisition and equipment, reforming agricultural subsidies to move more financial support away from larger farming operations, opening up money resources for farmers to transition to more sustainable farming practices, ensuring a farmer has the right to repair his or her own machinery, reforming patent laws to “protect farmers from predatory patent lawsuits from companies like Monsanto” over seed patents and the strengthening of regulations on organic products.