Outlaw Raisin Farmer Defies Uncle Sam

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by RightHand, Jul 8, 2013.


  1. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member


    Outlaw Raisin Farmer Defies Uncle Sam - For 11 years, Marvin Horne has refused to turn over crop to 'raisin reserve'


    (NEWSER) – Get ready to read the weirdest fact you're likely to encounter all month: There exists in our country a national raisin reserve. And a 68-year-old California raisin farmer has spent the last 11 years fighting it. TheWashington Post reports the very unusual and very fascinating story of Marvin Horne, who it dubs the greatest "outlaw ... in the world of dried fruit." For more than a decade, Horne has been defying a Truman-era regulation that for the past 64 years has given the USDA the ability to seize a portion of farmers' raisin crops if it believes supply will outpace demand; the fruit is deposited in locations around California, where it can be sold to foreigners, fed to cows, or just sit.
    And while the intention is to drive up the prices the remaining crop can fetch, the feds often don't pay the farmers for what they do take (revenue from overseas sales goes first to storage, related salaries, and the promotion of raisins). In 2002, Horne had had enough, and stopped complying. He has since racked up $650,000 in fines, logged 1.2 million pounds of unpaid raisins, and notched himself one Supreme Court decision. The courtlast month ruled that a lower court has to decide whetherMarketing Order 989 is constitutional. (The Wall Street Journal has a good succinct recap of the legal wranglingshere.) The Post piece is full of colorful lines from Horne, among them: "The hell with the whole mess. ... It’s like being a serf. ... You have heard of the rape of the Sabine women? This is even worse." Click for more on his ordeal, which included private eyes staking out his farm.

    One grower’s grapes of wrath - The Washington Post
     
  2. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    " But officer, they are NOT RAISINS, they are dehydrated grapes, and not subject to seizure...Besides, Raisins are mythical, you can't harvest raisins.
    These are grapes, I tell you, I planted them, I can even show you the labels on the seeds! :D
     
    CaboWabo5150 and tulianr like this.
  3. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    Unbelievable. Hope he is successful and does not end up like "Ruby Ridge" folks.
     
    tulianr likes this.
  4. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    I fear he'll loose. Just like Roscoe Filburn did in 1942 in one of the top 10 worst Supreme Court decisions of all time that set precidence that haunts us to this day. But I guess we can hope.

    AT
     
  5. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Similar laws exist with regard to tobacco, and peanuts as well. With those there are price controls. Excess of allowable amounts must be sold overseas so as to control the price unusually high in US to support farmers. New farmers without government charter cannot grow and sell their product within the US. Thus they cannot compete within the US, and export is not viable due to lower prices outside of US. It is a case of government regulations and kickbacks run amuck.
     
    BTPost likes this.
  6. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Peanuts are an excellent protein source, and would be a crop all southern preppers should have experience growing. Plus tobacco is a vice like alcohol that will be great barter product for those who can produce same post SHTF.
     
    BTPost likes this.
  7. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    Not only are peanuts delicious but packed with food value. George Washington Carver once fed all of congress a meal and afterwards told them it was all from peanuts. They store well and easily.
     
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