Agribusiness: Corporate Control of Food

The agribusiness sector is composed of a diverse group of corporate interests -- crop producers, livestock and meat producers, poultry and egg companies, dairy farmers, timber producers, tobacco companies and food manufacturers and stores.

Individuals and political action committees associated with the agribusiness sector contributed $65 million at the federal level during the 2008 election cycle and leaned Republican -- giving the GOP 62 percent of its contributions. In years past, the sector has been even more supportive of Republicans, giving as much as three-quarters of its contributions to the party. However, the sector marginally increased its contributions to Democrats after they regained Congress in 2006 – a trend that has persisted going into the 2012 presidential elections.

The agribusiness sector has contributed $480.5 million to federal candidates during the past two decades, with two-thirds going to Republicans.

The sector’s top contributors for the past three election cycles have been the Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris) and American Crystal Sugar. Altria contributed $1.2 million in 2008, split evenly between the two parties. American Crystal Sugar gave 63 percent of its $1.9 million in contributions to Democrats during the 2008 cycle. The sugar cane and sugar beets industry -- as opposed to the sector as a whole -- has consistently leaned Democratic during the last two decades.

On the lobbying front, the sector spent $133 million in 2009, with the agriculture services, food processing and tobacco industries accounting for the majority of the expenditures. While the tobacco lobby has always had a major presence on Capitol Hill, the other two industries have steadily increased lobbying expenditures during the last few years as Congress has considered placing new food safety regulations and disclosure requirements on their products.

Issues of importance to the sector include agriculture subsidies, environmental and safety regulations and trade policy that favors agriculture. Increasingly, immigration reform has also become an issue, as many industries in the sector are highly dependent on immigrants and seasonal workers for labor.

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