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Tudor Dixon details vision for ag, 'stark contrast' between current administration

Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon spoke to farmers at a rally hosted by Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPAC on Monday, Sept. 19. She promised fewer governmental regulations, better interagency communication, and more commitment to the state’s second-largest industry. Image credit: Bri Grunden, Michigan Farm Bureau
Date Posted: September 26, 2022

Michigan Farm Bureau’s nonpartisan political action committee — AgriPac — recently announced its endorsement of Tudor Dixon to be the state’s next governor.

That endorsement was made after considering Dixon’s stances on multiple farm-related issues and her vision for Michigan agriculture in the future.

Dixon wrote about that vision for Michigan Farm News, detailing the stark contrast between her policies and those of the current administration across five key issues Michigan farmers have faced in the past four years.

Her responses are found below.

Greenhouse closures during the pandemic

A glaring takeaway from Gretchen Whitmer’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is that she ignored the input from those impacted by her decisions. She listened to her advisors — many of whom have little real world experience — and snubbed those who had to live with the consequences of the edicts. That may be the lesson to be learned from 2020 and 2021, and where we contrast as candidates.

I believe the people know best how to live their lives. Farmers are the best environmentalists, for example. Your future livelihood depends on how you treat your land, animals, or processing systems today. Multi-generational farms are possible because farmers cared for their land, the environment, and community the best — better than any bureaucrat ever could.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned on the campaign trail is how Gretchen Whitmer’s agencies have crushed the livelihoods of hardworking Michiganders. Whitmer’s agencies picked and chose which industries and subsectors of industries would be worthy of permission to operate, while inconsistent orders exposed her hypocrisy.

This must never be allowed to happen again. It’s why I supported repealing the Emergency Powers through Unlock Michigan. It’s why I support state Rep. Julie Alexander’s efforts to address how a sole person has the power to issue emergency orders.

“An accountable government is a more responsible — and responsive — government, and accountability remains necessary when handling emergencies,” Alexander said. “As our Michigan government creates and enforces laws, public servants are duty bound to serve and answer to the people.

“The people hold state government accountable through elected representatives. The voters elect legislators, from our communities, to make laws and oversee the agencies that enforce the laws. Our new bipartisan plan will give the people of Michigan a greater say in emergency powers by giving their elected officials greater involvement and oversight.”

If that was Gretchen Whitmer’s attitude in 2020, hardworking Michiganders would have fared much better during the pandemic.

When Whitmer ran in 2018, she touted her legislative experience as an example of the need for branches of government to work together. But when she was in power, she broke that promise.

COVID worker testing requirements

Whitmer’s administration had some of the most punitive measures put on agricultural companies, especially those with workers living in employer-provided housing. This created a situation where farmers already struggling to find workers had to also contend with state agencies that were scaring existing workers away. Perhaps worse, there were questions about whether there was a racial component to Whitmer’s actions.

“We believe it’s discriminatory and racial because it doesn’t address any of the issues elsewhere in society,” northern Michigan farmer David Smeltzer told Michigan Farm News. “For example, we have to test people in our camp, yet are we testing students at dorms? This is strictly pointed at Latino people, Hispanic people.”

These concerns — not to mention the impact on Farm Bureau members — received no mainstream media attention but exemplified how Whitmer’s response to the pandemic only made it worse.

If Whitmer’s administration would have listened to farmers and heeded their concerns — and recognized they had an inherent interest in keeping their labor force safe — such punitive decisions never would have been made. It’s why I have committed to working with Michigan Farm Bureau and the many members I have gotten to know and respect for their hard work and commitment to Michigan’s future success.

Overreaching large livestock farm permit changes by MDEGLE

As governor, I vow that I will welcome and value input from the Michigan Farm Bureau and its members. As I travel the state and meet with farmers, producers, and processors, the feedback is almost universal: regulation and the regulatory agencies are a hindrance to growth.

A dairy farmer was unable to expand his business in Michigan, so he did so in Indiana and South Dakota. At the end of each year, he receives a thank you call from those governors. In contrast, Michigan’s current governor’s agencies find excuses for why our business can’t expand.

EGLE and MDARD must have a customer service-based philosophy: Farmers, producers, and processors don’t work for them, it’s the other way around.

Agriculture is vital to Michigan’s economy and should not be hampered by bureaucrats and a self-important bureaucracy. Farmers are stewards of the land. They know what is best. They have an inherent interest in protecting the environment because their livelihood derives from it.

Gretchen Whitmer has created a “gotcha state” — fining business owners for this, punishing them for that. It was especially obvious during her unconstitutional states of emergency. It is no way to run a state and expect business to grow and our population to increase. We must send a clear message next January that Michigan is open for business, and when I am elected, we will.

I have already developed relationships with cherry growers, pickle farmers, milk producers, sugarbeet processors, corn growers, ethanol producers, and others. I have visited their operations to see their work and challenges firsthand. If we are going to have a customer service-based government, we must understand their struggles and issues on location.

Last December, I attended the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market and participated in a roundtable with members from across the state. I welcome a partnership with Farm Bureau and related organizations to ensure we grow our agriculture sector and make it easier to do business in our state.  

Line-item vetoes of agriculture spending in the 2020-21 budget

Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed state funding to help the ag industry. The Michigan Farm Bureau will always find a partner in me in determining what the industry needs, how to make it easier to do business in Michigan, and what programs help without compromising free market principles or getting in the way.

MDARD must be led by a strong director who has direct experience in farming and dealing with a hostile agency and is able to change the mindset of a bureaucracy that must recognize it is there to serve the needs of farms, producers, and processors and not the other way around.

I was grateful to have been endorsed by state Sen. Roger Victory, and Reps. Julie Alexander and Luke Meerman in the primary and they have helped to educate me on ag and will be critical partners in developing, passing, and implementing Ag policies in the future.

Line 5 shutdown

Disrupting Line 5 would be catastrophic for Michigan’s economy. Studies have shown gas prices would rise an additional 10% if Michigan was forced to get gasoline from elsewhere, because so much of it comes from the crude delivered through Line 5. It’s not just gasoline. Diesel, propane, and the oil necessary to produce starter chemicals for plastics produced in Michigan would all be impacted.

If Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessel successfully kill Line 5, the economic consequences cannot be understated. Whitmer’s attitude has been to terminate the pipeline and figure out the alternatives and consequences later.

One alternative some have suggested is to truck the crude around the region. The refinery rep estimated it would require 2,000 trucks a day to make up for the pipeline loss. How does that help Michigan roads, which have actually gotten worse during Whitmer’s tenure, despite her key campaign promise to “fix the damn roads?”

Not to mention, the Democrats’ trucking fantasy is further undermined by the fact that there is a shortage of truckers. The number decreased by over 5,000 in the state during the governor’s heavy-handed coronavirus lockdowns last year. Such a policy would undoubtedly drive up the already increased costs farmers pay to deliver goods to market.

It is another example of Whitmer and Nessel leading with stubborn ideology, and not practical reality.