Oxfam, others launch Media blitz against farm bill

Oxfam America and other farm bill opponents are launching a $225,000 media campaign in New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., against the House-passed farm bill.

According to an advisory sent to reporters on Tuesday, the print and television ads will call on Congress “to stop putting millionaire farmers ahead of America’s family farms.”

“Millionaire” farmers are the prime benefactors of the farm bill, while small family farmers “are left out in the cold,” the advisory said.

The groups hope that by placing the ads in New Hampshire, they can raise the profile of the farm bill debate in the race for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Minnesota was chosen because of the presence of political groups in that state that have advocated for farm bill reforms, and because an ad buy there could stretch across the region, an Oxfam spokesman said.

GOP Sens. Norm Coleman (Minn.) and John Sununu (N.H.) are up for reelection in 2008, and both are considered vulnerable. However, the Oxfam spokesman said this was not a driving factor in the decision to buy ads in those states. Coleman and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) are both members of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

That committee postponed a markup of a Senate farm bill last week but is expected to consider legislation before the end of October. The House approved its farm bill in July.

Other groups behind the ad campaign include Church World Service, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Environmental Working Group and Taxpayers for Common Sense.