Kansas farmer tells USDA that what she does is none of their business
Article/Agriculture - 4 minute read
Mary Powell, a farmer in Longton, Kansas, posted a video to her political Facebook page Powell4KANSAS—something she created in her run for Kansas Governor. Her Facebook page says she is “American by the Grace of God” and that she is pro-agriculture, pro-Constitution, pro-life, and pro-term limits.
In her video she states that she got “yet another USDA census form.” In an earlier video from December, she had spoken on receiving the United States 2022 Census of Agriculture which informed her she was required to reply by law. She responded to the census with the majority of her responses being, “None of your business.”
“They obviously didn’t like it that I wrote ‘None of your business’ all over the pages,” Powell said in her latest video.
Due to this, she wrote another letter addressed to the administrator of the National Agricultural Statistics Services Hubert Hamer. The letter reads:
“I’ve received a second census form from you. I’ve previously filled out as much of a census as I felt obligated. You may not like it, but it was a response. I answered that census according to my conscience and that is all.
“Yes, I do raise meat goats and the number of goats I raise varies from year to year. Sometimes I raise over 100 but less than 200. Other years I raise no goats. I can at any time have 20 to 80 adult animals and sometimes 26. I utilize my goats in a weed and brush control operation. I do not own land, but utilize lots of land. Some of which is in city limits while other land is in junkyards, pastures, non-profit youth group camps, or private properties.
“I do not participate in any USDA programs except scrapies. The reason being if I need those tags if I choose to transport out of the state to work in other states. I do not get any handouts from the USDA in payments, thus it’s really none of your darn business how I farm.
“The current administration is anti-farm and anti-small business. Not to mention anti-Constitution and everything I abhor about tyrannical governments. In addition, I do not agree with Executive Order 1408, otherwise known as 30x30. Any and all of the information is being used by your census to figure out how to run little farming operations and all small businesses off the plains and I will not participate in anything that harms my right to farm—My rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Your census also infringes upon my First Amendment rights of freedom of religion and speech.
“You want a response to your census, this is your response, and don’t send another.”
Powell also said in the video that if anyone would like a copy of her response to send, that she can be reached by email at Powell4Kansas@yahoo.com.
The census is done every five years and is mandated by law to be responded to. Powell said in the video that she responded, but they didn’t like her response, but they’re going to get the same response.
Powell also posted pictures of the envelope she received in which she is returning her response in. She wrote on the back of the envelope, “IN GOD ONLY WE TRUST” and she captioned her post, “Yep I don't think they'll like the envelope I decorated either”
Just days before she posted this, another independent news organization in Kansas Molon Labe Truth, posted a speech given by Angel Cushing regarding Biden’s 30x30 Executive Order, MARC (Mid-America Regional Council), the World Economic Forum and the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda. Cushing and Powell have both been vocal in their opposition of the Executive Order.
In 2021, The Hutchinson News published an article claiming that the USDA said no land would be taken from farmers.
“The Director of USDA’s Office of Energy and Environmental Policy, within the Office of the Chief Economist, William Hohenstein, said this bill is about conservation and working with other countries to create strong conservation practices.
“‘The United States has a longstanding legacy of conservation. We have a very strong foundation to build from,’ Hohensein said. ‘This (30 by 30) is not about taking land. This is not about restricting land. This is about conservation.’”
Nevertheless, it is important to note that 30 percent of the land would have to be taken from somewhere and most of Kansas land is private property. In Cushing’s speech, she claims that their are groups who are lying to farmers to push forward with their agenda. Furthermore, when we look at issues like the lesser prairie chicken, we can see that the federal government is working to infringe on landowners by taking over private property in the name of “conservation.”
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