"Hoo Owns the Candidates?" Mike Braun, Part 3
Big Ag
This is the fourth in a series entitled “Hoo Owns the Candidates?” wherein we look at the money flowing into the coffers of Hoosier political candidates as they gear up for 2024. Today, we take another look at Senator Mike Braun, who is vacating his seat in Washington to run for Governor. Previous installments have looked at Braun’s big donors in the RV industry and in medicine. The first installment of the “Hoo Owns” series was on U.S. Senate candidate Jim Banks, and can be found here.
“There’s more than corn in Indiana.”
That was always the tagline in commercials for Indiana Beach, the amusement park situated on the shores of Lake Shafer in Monticello.
And it’s true.
We also have soybeans, tomatoes, melons, and hogs.
But seriously, agriculture is big business in Indiana, contributing some $35 billion to the state’s economy. Indiana ranks 8th in the country in overall farm output - 5th in corn, soybeans, and watermelon; 4th in pumpkins, peppermint, and turkeys; 3rd in spearmint and tomatoes; 2nd in popcorn and eggs; and 1st in commercial duck production.
In 2021, the Hoosier State’s agricultural production and processing facilities were responsible for nearly 5% of the state’s GDP.
Agriculture is also largely responsible for Indiana’s nearly-25,000 miles of rivers and streams that are too polluted for fishing or swimming - more than any other state.
Moreover, the agricultural sector sits at the center the global climate crisis as it is both a major cause of climate change - accounting for about 20% of total greenhouse gases, more than all cars, planes, and trains combined, as well half of all methane and sixty percent of nitrous oxide emissions - both of which are far more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide - and as the industry most susceptible to the effects of a warming planet.
Facing potential legal exposure from one direction, and the prospect of reduced yields from the other, the industry wants a friend in the Governor’s mansion. In this article, we’ll look at the Hoosier farmers, poulterers, and dairymen supporting Mike Braun with $10,000 or more in contributions.
Michael Hochgesang, Jasper, $16,000 - Partner at Jasper Plant Foods Inc for 40 years; Founder of Southern Indiana Propane Inc; President of Jasper Leasing Company, a transporter of fertilizer, propane, and agricultural products; Past president of the Indiana Plant Food & Agricultural Chemical Association, Past President of National Fertilizer Solutions Association. 3-year board member of The Fertilizer Institute, Washington, DC.
Terry Tucker, Warsaw, $15,000 - Chairman of the Board at Leesburg-headquartered Maple Leaf Farms, the leading duck producer in North America. Tucker inherited his position as the company’s president in 1968 upon the untimely death of his father-in-law, founder Donald Wentzel. Today, Tucker’s sons serve as Co-presidents and management largely consists of Tucker’s grandkids. Between Terry, his wife, and his sons, the Tucker family have contributed well over $100,000 to Republicans, including some of the most extreme far-right MAGA fascists.
Adler Hybrids LLC $10,000 - So, Adler Seeds was founded in 1937 by Howard Adler in Sharpsville. After a 2006 fire, the Adler facilities and grounds were sold to seed giant Beck’s Hybrids. John Adler, Howard’s son, took the Adler Seeds name and partnered with AgVenture, moving the company office to Lafayette, then merging with another Indiana seed company, McKillip. The Noblesville address attached to THIS donation is the law office of Raymond Adler. Our Adler graduated from Purdue with BS in Mathematics and Chemistry, then IU School of Law. Author of a tacky opinion column at The Hamilton Country Reporter, he also serves as President of Hamilton Country Election Board. Finally, Adler is a member of Life Church of Noblesville. “Hey, isn’t that the home church of Christian nationalist grifter, false prophet, and Indiana Lieutenant Governor candidate Micah Beckwith?” It sure is. Be sure to follow Rebecca, she’s always got great stuff:
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Lawrence “Sonny” Beck, Atlanta IN, $10,000 - CEO of Beck’s Hybrids, the third-largest overall and largest private family-owned seed brand in the country. Beck’s grandfather started the company business in 1937. Sonny currently serves on the Purdue University Board of Trustees and “Indiana Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He is also vice president of the Purdue Ag Alumni Seed Improvement Association and a founding member of the Purdue Farmhouse Fraternity Foundation board. Beck has held a variety of other leadership positions within the agriculture industry, including president of the American Seed Trade Association, president of the Indiana Crop Improvement Association, a charter member of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture Advisory Board, and a member of the Purdue Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Council.” Beck is a long-time Republican donor, with a couple Democrats thrown in, at both the state and national level.
BTA BSF LLC, Reynolds, $20,000 - BTA stands for BioTown Ag. Situated on the multigenerational family farm of company President Brian Furrer, running a closed-loop agriculture system. Cattle and swine raised at the on-site CAFO are processed and sold under the Legacy Maker brand name; manure and other waste are fed into an anaerobic digester, which produces methane gas, liquid fertilizer, and solid soil; the methane is used to power the farm, and sell excess energy to the grid, while the other byproducts are reused on-site or sold. Here’s a puff piece from Indiana Public Media:
Sounds great, right? Not so fast! The Sierra Club describes biogas as “greenwashing” that is “problematic for many reasons and is in itself an environmental justice issue. The production of biomethane from manure-to-energy projects, such as manure digesters, is hazardous to local communities, locks farmers into more debt, and perpetuates the expansion of our current harmful agriculture practices, while increasing fossil fuel infrastructure by entrenching CAFOs with pipelines for the gas that is produced.” Additionally, Furrer - while shouting “sustainability” from the rooftops - has easily contributed a cool quarter of a million dollars to anti-environment Republicans all over the country.
Norman Pfau Jr, Jeffersonville, $20,000 - From his bio on the River Ridge Development Authority website, “Since 1965, Norman E. (Ned) Pfau, Jr. has been President and CEO of Geo. Pfau’s Sons Co. Geo. Pfau is an international manufacturer of specialty animal fats and oils [think mink oil and peacock tallow]. Mr. Pfau is a native Hoosier and a graduate of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, earning a B.S. in Finance. Mr. Pfau’s directorships include Indiana Manufacturers Association (past Chairman); Jeffersonville Urban Enterprise Association; Indiana University Foundation; Indiana University Varsity Club (past President); Paul Ogle Foundation. Bank One Kentucky (27 years); Your Community Bank (8 years); 20 years Indiana Port Commission; Indiana State Chamber of Commerce; Ivy Tech Community College (former Trustee); Clark County Metro United Way (past Chairman and President); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis-Louisville Branch (past Chairman); Bridgepointe Goodwill & Easter Seals, Inc. (past President); Mr. Pfau was inducted into Kentuckiana Business Hall of Fame 2012; Honorary I-Man Indiana University in 2019; and Past recipient Red Cross Humanitarian Award and Ivy Tech Legacy Award.” Pfau has perhaps the lengthiest political contribution record of anybody I’ve come across, with over $1 million given. He likely gave even more than that to rechristen the IU golf course in his name.
Curtis Creek Dairy, LLC $25,000 - From IMQP, “Curtis Creek Dairy Farms […] milks 15,000 cows living in free-stall barns, 800 cows in a robotic milker dairy and 1,000 cows on an organic dairy. This is the home farm of…”
Michael McCloskey, Demotte, $10,000 - From the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) website, “McCloskey is Co-Founder and CEO of Select Milk Producers, the sixth largest milk cooperative in the country. He is also Chairman of the Board for Fair Oaks Farms, the nation’s largest agritourism attraction located in Northwest Indiana,” the one known as the “Disneyland of Agriculture” with the billboards all up and down Interstate 65 in Northwest Indiana. McCloskey and Fair Oaks have come under fire on multiple occasions. In 2004, McCloskey paid a $185,000 settlement to the SEC over an insider trading case and, in 2019, Fair Oaks found itself at the center of an animal welfare controversy.
Rose Acre Farms, Spencer, $10,000 - The second largest egg producer in the United States, with 15 facilities in seven states, Rose Acre Farms have been owned by the Rust Family since the 1930’s. Founder David Rust was an eccentric individual, according to encyclopedia.com: “He paid employees a $100 bonus if they attended monthly quality control meetings or drove a car that was painted eggshell white, and each week gave out a free vacation trip to Florida to his most productive worker. Rose Acre also printed Bible verses on its egg cartons and displayed huge American flags at all of its farms, while Rust himself had a tree house 70 feet above the ground from which he could view the company's main production facility, as well as his childhood home.” He also left his wife and mother of seven children in the 1980’s because he wanted "more children and more chickens," marrying a Polish exchange student with whom he had four more kids. An ugly battle over the company ensued, ex-wife Lois winning control of the company in 1989. Their son Marcus is now the long-time CEO, as well a generous Republican donor, contributing nearly $100,000. Another son, John, serves as Chairman of the board, and is mounting a long-shot bid for US Senate.
Thomas Seger, Jasper, $10,000 - According to the Wabash Valley Eggs website, “Seger graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the IU Kelley School of Business in 1979. After graduation, he returned to Jasper and joined the family business. Tom originally worked in human resources and was also involved in plant production. As the company acquired ownership of plants in Farina, Illinois and Zanesville, Ohio, his responsibilities extended to these locations and included the formation of a new transportation company, Simple Transport. Tom became CEO of Wabash Valley in 2018.” Now Vice President of Wabash Valley President of Simple Transportation, he also serves on the boards of Brown Produce Company in Farina IL, and Ballas Egg Products in Zanesville OH, and he shares ownership in Farbest Foods of Huntingburg and JFS Milling of Dubois. Tom is also a board member and treasurer of Patoka Valley Health Care Cooperative. Probably most importantly though, Seger also sits as Lead Director on the board of German American Bancorp, where he has acquired some $13 million worth of stock.
Gina Neher, Indianapolis, $10,000 - Not sure where to put this one, but since their business revolves around tending a monoculture crop (grass), I’ll stick ‘em here. Gina and husband Andrew founded Lawn Pride Inc in 1983 while still in school at Ball State. Expanding from a small pole barn to an expansive facility in Northeastern Indianapolis, the company provides a wide range of lawncare services. Gina served as President of the Indiana Professional Lawn & Landscape Association in 1999. In 2022, Lawn Pride was acquired by global home services franchisor Neighborly for an undisclosed amount. The Nehers don’t have an extensive history of political contributions, though they did give $15,000 to State Senator Kyle Walker (R-Dist.31) in 2022, ranking them among his most prolific individual donors.
Agriculture will continue to be a major driver of Indiana’s economy but, over the next several decades, farmers will have to adapt to rising CO2 levels, rising temperatures, and changing precipitation patterns and amounts. These changes to the climate will affect everything from the length of the growing season, the types of crops that can be grown, and livestock health, to soil and water quality, and the kinds of weeds and pests encountered in the field.
These adaptations are going to cost money.
Likewise, changes must be made to current farming practices to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, fertilizers leached into waterways, and pesticides entering human bloodstreams.
These adaptations are also going to cost money.
Who’s going to pay the bill?
Indiana once was home to traditional mixed farming operations that integrated livestock, grain, forage, fruit and vegetable production. That changed significantly in the 1970s when economic trends led to larger farm sizes. Today, Indiana farms are more specialized and larger than in the past, making them more vulnerable to climate-related risk.
The “economic trends” of the neoliberal era bestowed the subjects of this article with great wealth. Their websites like to portray them as small family farms but that’s more a case of “you are what you eat.” Make no mistake. These are the kind of large agribusinesses that consumed small family farms. I know a guy wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Here it go:
Don’t believe me? Look at these descriptions again
“the leading duck producer in North America”
“largest private family-owned seed brand in the country”
“sixth largest milk cooperative in the country”
“second largest egg producer in the United States”
These guys aren’t some ol’ hayseeds. They are little oligarchs, multimillionaires with big political influence. Watch in the coming years as government money flows into mitigation and adaptation projects, the public subsidizing industry while the profits inevitably remain private. Socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for the rest of us.
The climate change can has been kicked to the end of the road. We’re already seeing extreme weather. This summer, the globe eclipsed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The best time to adapt was yesterday, but the next best time is right now. Where might we be if, instead of spending millions on political influence, on decades of Republican climate denial, the agricultural industry had begun the green transition 30 years ago, by which point we all knew what was coming?
Indiana is home to 4 million head of swine, but Big Ag can’t keep living high on the hog.
Somehow we need to get more Democrats to run. I hate seeing openings on the ballot.
Scott, who (or hoo, if you prefer) is Victoria Sparts (?) a representative from IN, who spoke at the congressional hearing yesterday?
https://youtu.be/Zvzzewu4aDs?si=NbhUKDmHBz_2jCiA